


Exploratory Studies in Interactive Recreation

by Yellow_Bird_On_Richland



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Polyamory, Season 3, Slow Burn, Trobedison, semi-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 57,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellow_Bird_On_Richland/pseuds/Yellow_Bird_On_Richland
Summary: Annie’s happy because she'll soon be able to bid a permanent goodbye to the shitty apartment above Dildopolis. Troy’s happy because he’s living with Abed. Abed’s happy because his friends are happy.As the three of them grow more and more comfortable together in apartment 303, they fall for each other like snow coming down in a mid-November blizzard.Slowly, and then all at once.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Annie Edison, Troy Barnes/Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 63
Kudos: 189





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in S3 with minor creative liberties. I basically don’t involve Pierce in anything, and the study group doesn't treat Britta like garbage. Each chapter will shift between Annie's, Troy's, and Abed's perspectives on things.

Most students dreaded returning to college, even at a place like Greendale, which has an even looser connotation of higher education than similarly dysfunctional community colleges. But Annie secretly looked forward to the first few days of a new semester, of establishing order within her planner and her desk calendar, of receiving syllabi and mapping out goals for her classes.

She was also thrilled that the campus, at long last, would be fully re-opened so she could keep away from the rat hole of Dildopolis as much as possible before her move. She'd brightened up her apartment as much as possible with homey touches on a shoestring budget, but living in a neighborhood chock full of skeevy pervs rendered it less than appealing at the best of times. She'd really prefer being in a community where owning a handgun didn't feel like a necessity. Still, the occasional trips to the gun range had made her a crack shot in paintball, and the rent was cheaper than any other 1-bedroom apartment in the general Greendale area.

Given those factors, along with the fact that there was no awkward crush on Jeff to work through this September (she'd been such a mess those first few weeks of last year), Annie was more than happy to greet everyone in the study room, to have Shirley show off more pictures of baby Ben, to hear about Britta's extended backpacking trip through Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon, even to listen to Jeff wax poetic about the rediscovered joys of living in a Chang-less apartment. And she was especially glad to greet Troy and Abed as the two of them arrived (together, of course). Although the three of them hadn't acknowledged anything when they'd left campus at the end of last semester beyond a shared nod, a quick salute, and a jointly stated, "Pleasure fighting with you," it turned out that going down in a blaze of paint-drenched glory to help save Greendale from City College invaders had cemented their friendship as a trio, to the point that they offered her a spot in their apartment, which she'd gratefully accepted. And as far as non-kid-related news went, Abed and Troy stole the show with their happy announcement of, "We're roommates now!"

"We know, some of us _did_ help you move in," Annie commented, but her tone was affectionate, and their eagerness to share was cute, in a typically dorky, vaguely intimate Abed-and-Troy way. It was funny, sometimes, thinking about how Troy acted in high school—every bit the stereotypical, shallow jock—compared to his less cool, more open and playful personality now, how he's best friends with someone he would have actively avoided like the plague only a few years ago.

" _He's better friends with you now, too,"_ Annie reminded herself, and smiled as she reminisced on some of the summer hijinks she, Troy, and Abed had pulled. She hadn't expected that something like making s'mores could turn into a fully-fledged adventure, complete with concerns over whether they were consuming the remains of the giant Stay Puft marshmallow man from Ghostbusters, but Troy and Abed had enough imagination to rival a kindergarten classroom.

"True, and we appreciated it. Still, changing our living arrangements felt like the kind of summertime activity that should be shared at our usual first day report," Abed answered. "And now, to the next order of business, what classes are we all taking, besides Bio?"

"I've got some psych courses lined up, along with 20th Century Feminist Literature and Theory," Britta replied promptly. "Just want to keep myself abreast of what's out there in terms of female empowerment." Troy was predictably, giggling, so she quickly turned towards him and scowled, "Don't make a boob joke."

"I've got some more business and marketing courses," Shirley volunteered.

"I'm taking Old English as my pre-20th-century English credit," Jeff commented.

Troy grinned at him and said, "Nice, same here. And wait…" his brow furrowed. "If there's Old English, shouldn't there also be New English?"

"Oh, Troy," Annie and Shirley sighed in unison. Annie added, "I've got some business administration courses for my hospital admin major, plus 20th Century Youth Culture for a history requirement."

Abed perked up at that. "Is that with Professor McAndrew on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

Annie unzipped her backpack and retrieved her homemade schedule from her file folder. "Yep. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons."

"Cool, cool, cool," he commented in a satisfied tone before Troy piped up, "We're in that class, too."

"Great," Annie smiled before everyone got up to head off for their first Biology class of the semester, and she hoped, quietly, in her head, _"Maybe we'll have a normal first week. Or at least a normal first day, by Greendale standards. I'd take that."_ That's what Dean Pelton said he wanted, too, although there was nothing normal about his goatee.

But then Jeff was trying to offload Pierce from the group in his roundabout, persuasive yet devious lawyerly way, and all of a sudden he got kicked out of Biology when he couldn't turn his phone off, and Annie should have known better than to expect anything besides more nonsense.

**

Unfortunately for the study group, that nonsense didn't extend to the class itself, as Dr. Kane proved to be a challenging grader, and their regular meetings actually demanded focus and preparation this year—two qualities that weren't necessarily their strong suits.

"Part of me wishes Kane wouldn't have let me back into his class. I'm sure I could have found the Anthropology equivalent of lab science somewhere in this mess of a school," Jeff groaned one morning as he downed another gulp of coffee.

"I can't believe it, but I'd rather take another class with Chang over this course," Troy muttered darkly.

The newly minted security guard snickered as he walked by on his first security round of the day, gloating, "The more things Chang, the more they stay the same."

"That doesn't even make sense, man," Jeff grumbled.

"I've got a ton of psych homework to do on top of making and labeling all these diagrams for bio, too," Britta complained while she propped her head up with her textbook for a second, and Shirley chimed in, a touch bitterly, "An intro class should _not_ be taking up this much of our time."

Annie simply nodded her agreement, not wanting to speak her weakness into existence. Not wanting to admit that she, too, already felt somewhat overwhelmed, just three weeks into the fall semester. At Greendale Community College, of all places.

She'd gotten good at avoiding the internal calls from her intense anxiety—once her terrible best friend—and could, at times, silence them entirely. Unfortunately, the noise of everyone else's complaints only augmented her concerns and enhanced her insecurities until they fully interrupted her studying:

" _failure"_

" _dumbass"_

" _junkie"_

" _wasted potential"_

"Hey, Annie?"

She jumped at the sound of her name. "What?" she snapped at Troy.

He put out both hands as if to ward off her aggressiveness. "Abed and I were wondering if you'd want to come over to our place after Youth Culture on Thursday to work on that essay about the effects of kid-centric marketing."

"Oh. Umm…" She generally worked better on papers by herself, but something told her that spending too much extra time flying solo at the moment might not be the best plan for her mental health. "Sure, I could do that."

They both gave her a thumbs-up and resumed working on their Biology homework. Annie reined in her negative thoughts enough to make a decent chunk of progress on her own projects, and felt a bit better when she wrote a note in her planner about going over to the boys' apartment later on in the week.

**

Annie cast an appreciative eye at the scene in apartment 303 when she came over. Abed and Troy had actually arranged a semi-studious work area at the main dining table. She could lay out her textbook and notes without encroaching on the boys' space, and was close enough to power outlets that she could plug her aging laptop in.

"I don't know how the two of you usually work outside of the study group," she noted, "but I usually go in thirty minute chunks, with five minute breaks. Do you mind if I put a timer on?"

Troy glanced at Abed, the more routine-dependent one of the two of them, to silently ask if that would be alright, and he nodded. "Sure. That might keep us a bit more on task, actually."

Annie smiled back at them. "Ok, then." She found her favorite customizable Pomodoro timer online and set it for half an hour. The three of them worked mostly in companionable silence, aside from Annie breaking it to mull over the best way to transition to a new paragraph, and Troy and Abed pondering what academic databases they should use for their required scholarly references.

Annie scrolled through her Word document even after the timer rang, inserting comments here and there and outlining the next section she wanted to work on when she felt two sets of eyes fixed on her.

"What's up, guys?" she asked.

"It's break time," Abed answered as if it was obvious. "Why are you still working?"

"Well, this isn't really working, not compared to actually writing the essay," she noted with a shrug.

"It also isn't _not_ work," Troy countered. "Or…" he frowned. "No, wait, that double negative was correct. Anyway, Abed's right. If you've scheduled a break, you need it to be a true break. Like perfectly snapping off one strip of a Kit-Kat bar."

She figured they had a point, so she slowly, if semi-reluctantly, minimized her Word document.

"That's better," Troy commented, with Abed nodding as if a jigsaw puzzle had just fallen into place. He turned to Troy and asked, "You want to play Inspector Spacetime later?"

Annie tilted her head, confused—she hadn't expected there'd be a video game version of an ancient, niche British TV show, but if anyone could find it, Abed could—when Troy replied, "Could we take a break from Inspector Spacetime and maybe play in ChalkZone? I've been on a little bit of an old-school cartoon kick lately and that seems like it could be a fun environment."

Abed pursed his lips and brought a hand to his chin, apparently deep in thought. "I agree, but we'd risk being at a double-removal from reality with all the portal-jumping. Could be dangerous for a school night."

Annie opened her mouth, on the verge of interjecting to ask what the hell portal-jumping constituted, but then Troy answered, with a shudder, "Ah, yeah, I forgot—don't wanna worry about getting splinched. How about we save it for this weekend, then?"

"Sure. As long as you don't mind if I'm Snap?" Abed asked.

Troy grinned. "I wanted to be Rudy, so that works out perfectly."

"Cool, cool, cool," Abed responded in approval.

Annie finally found her voice at their conversation's end point. "What on earth are you two talking about?"

Troy and Abed looked at each other askance. "You've never heard of ChalkZone?" they chorused.

Annie shook her head in frustration and sighed. "No. Well, I mean, yes, I know it's an old Nick cartoon, but that's about it. I meant, what are you talking about in regards to everything else?"

Abed and Troy glanced at each other, once again communicating silently. "Do you mind if we wait til after we're done working to answer that?" Troy inquired.

"Because we definitely won't be able to explain it properly in the…" Abed glanced at his watch. "One minute we have left in our current break. And this way we can prep for a potential back-and-forth explanation montage."

Annie shook her head again, but this time it was with bemused acceptance. "Whatever you say, you two. Whatever you say."

She wanted to dismiss their zaniness out of habit, but their discussion had intrigued her to the point that she had to put in her earbuds and pull up her study playlist on iTunes to refocus on her analysis of Wrigley Gum commercials and their impact on inducting youth into the cult of American consumerism. However, despite her studious intentions, Annie found herself growing curious at the prospect of getting a "behind the curtain" peek at life with Troy and Abed before she officially moved in with them. That was still about a month away, but just the impending liberation from Dildopolis, knowing she wouldn't be trapped there for another year, brightened her spirits considerably.

**

During the next break, she closed her work promptly, and swept her arm forward. "So. About playing Inspector Spacetime and ChalkZone. What do I need to know?"

Abed and Troy nodded in unison and led her over to a door in the corner of the living room. She'd guessed it was a linen closet, though the boys probably didn't have enough linens to really need one. If they even knew what linens were.

"Behold…" they murmured together before both putting a hand on the doorknob and pulling it open with a grand flourish. "The Dreamatorium."

"A place of imagination," Abed said in a perfect SpongeBob imitation.

"And wonder," Troy chimed in next.

"And magic," they concluded together.

"Oookay." She tried to smile brightly at them, but could feel in her cheeks that she was forcing it. After all, it was just a room with black walls and orange tape running in lines along every bit of space aside from the ceiling (though they were extremely orderly lines, intersecting to form perfectly shaped squares, and Annie could appreciate the careful precision). The room was much larger than she'd expected, as well, and that realization got her to slowly turn to Abed and Troy to ask, "Was this, by any chance, the second bedroom that came with the apartment?"

"Yeah," Troy responded happily, and then Abed added, "We converted it a couple weeks after we moved in."

Annie took a second to compose herself—after all, she knows the boys don't always think like she does and that their penchant for planning ahead is rather limited, to be diplomatic about it. She sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them slowly before responding, "So, if I'm moving in...where exactly is my room going to be?"

"Those details are a bit up in the air," Troy answered carefully.

"You're still not moving in for about a month," Abed noted in his annoyingly calm tone. "You know we're not big planners."

Annie replied indignantly, from between clenched teeth, "You're not playing pretend ChalkZone tonight because you're afraid of doing some...some...interdimensional portal jump in your _imaginations_. I think you both have at least _a little_ capacity for planning and critical thinking," she went on, irritated, but the sight of them both withering under her glare—Troy, very obviously, based on how he shrunk back from her; Abed, less so, but he was looking at the ground and hadn't even attempted to make eye contact—got her to soften her tone. "Even if you often apply those skills in nonsensical contexts."

"Sorry, Annie," they both muttered.

"It's not that I don't like your hijinks," she reassured them, not wanting them to misinterpret her point. "I'm really excited about living with you guys, believe me. It's just...I need a semblance of order, of structure. Maybe a bit less than I'm normally used to, but still some. Like…" she wracked her brain, looking for a way to make them understand.

The timer on her computer beeped, and she appreciated that Abed had the tact to not immediately go back to his essay when she muted it.

" _Speak their language. Contextualize how you feel in experiences they know,"_ she reasoned.

"Okay. Abed." She turned to him. "When you're making a film, don't you plan out some shots, or what cameras you might need for some specific scenes?"

"Definitely," he nodded.

"And Troy," she went on, gaining confidence in her concept, "when you were playing football, wouldn't you scout the other team's defense ahead of time, to get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses?"

"Sure," he answered. "Film study was a big part of game prep."

"So, can you two understand why I need some kind of plan before I move in?" she asked hopefully. "I know you guys are more laid-back than me, and I honestly need to be more relaxed sometimes. But I'm also never going to be completely wired like that."

"Of course," they both answered, drawing a happy grin from Annie.

"I don't know if we could do this right now, since I think we all still need to work on our papers. But what if we hatched a plan for your move this weekend?" Abed suggested. "And we could maybe come up with apartment...bylaws?"

"I like both of those ideas," Annie smiled. "But bylaws sound kind of stuffy. What about rules?" Her face fell as soon as the word "rules" left her mouth, though, and Troy and Abed both grimaced.

"How about guidelines?" Troy asked both of them.

"Yes, guidelines would be great," Annie answered warmly. Abed responded with a pair of finger guns, so he was clearly in favor, too.

"And Saturday could be, like, a test run for you getting more accustomed to our space," Troy enthused. "We could do the planning in the afternoon, and then afterwards, we could watch movies or get dinner or something."

"The pilot to Annie living in apartment 303," Abed chimed in, piggy-backing off his best friend's idea.

"Yes! That'll be dope," Troy answered before initiating their usual handshake.

"Aww, you guys! I'm so looking forward to this." Annie extended her arms out hopefully to both of them, and they accepted her invitation for a group hug, with Abed on the outside of it, as usual, for his comfort.

She found it was a tad more difficult to focus on getting within striking distance of a conclusion to her paper after that.

She also found that she didn't really mind. Not when she's got moving plans to develop and, she's sure, wild adventures to curate with her two best friends in just two short days.


	2. Chapter 2

"Man, how do people find time to cook after work?" Troy complained to Abed as he impatiently swirled olive oil around a grill pan, waiting for it to heat up. "I feel like we're on wine mom hours in terms of day-to-day responsibilities, and tomorrow's Saturday, and I _still_ don't want to do this."

"I don't know," Abed admitted while he removed a chicken breast from its packaging. "I'm afraid our good intentions to prepare for our pilot with Annie tomorrow may have gotten the better of us here."

Once their weekend had officially started after classes on Friday, they had decided to dedicate at least some portion of their late afternoon and evening to figuring out ways to make their apartment homier for their Annie. Seemed easy enough. They'd agreed Googling "how to be two normal guy roommates with a girl roommate" was a touch too strange, even for them. Abed _did_ mention that Annie appreciated having a well-stocked kitchen, though. And, thankfully, she'd never go full Shirley and spend hours whipping up way too many baked goods.

Another Google search—"staples for college students' kitchens"—and a subsequent kitchen exploration (colanders make cool hats, and spatulas aren't great make-shift lightsabers) revealed they were fresh out of basically everything, so they went on a grocery store run to stock up on staples like pasta, olive oil, frozen veggies, meats, and fish, spices, and a few different types of pasta sauces. And now the two of them were actually cooking a meal—a simple chicken Caesar salad, with a side of fresh Italian bread—that hadn't come from the pre-packaged dinners section of the grocery store.

It was definitely a bit odd, as Troy was pretty sure they hadn't used any pans or kitchen utensils for at least a couple of weeks. But, then again, he and Abed already cycled through their usual meal selections of buttered noodles, cereal, frozen taquitos, pizza, and pilfered cafeteria sandwiches a few times since they'd moved in together part-way through summer, and the idea of eating a dinner that didn't rely entirely on their microwave's "Defrost" button held some appeal.

"It's food. Nutritious food," Abed commented after they'd finished making their salads, topping them with salad dressing, cheese, and croutons, and taking their first bites. Considering he and Troy had purposely overcooked the chicken in an abundance of caution against contracting salmonella, it could have been worse.

"It's not bad. I think we could have probably added more salt and pepper to the chicken before we cooked it," Troy volunteered. He wouldn't go so far as to say it tasted better than a comparable salad from, say, Subway or Panera _specifically_ because they prepared it—that would be a lie, and unlike Shirley, Troy didn't subscribe to the theory that cooking something yourself was always superior to getting store-bought or takeout. But he could admit that there _was_ something satisfying about making a meal from scratch. After Annie's minor blow-up yesterday about how they could stand to accommodate her a little more, it felt good to actually take a step toward doing that rather than just saying they would. And Troy enjoyed cooking with Abed, too.

" _Well, that's not a surprise. I enjoy doing pretty much anything and everything with Abed,"_ he thought to himself as they cleaned up their plates after dinner and deposited them in the dishwasher (he'd forgotten the apartment came with one of those).

Once upon a time, Troy would've thought that was weird. After all, he'd had a pretty regimented view of gender roles in high school. If you were cool, which he was, you spent about 50% of your time chasing girls, 30% of your time making out with them and seeing what else you could get away with, and 20% of your time "bro-ing out," either on the football field or basketball court, or at your friends' houses. Still usually talking about girls.

These days, though, he didn't really spend time with any girls except for Annie and Britta. And other than when he was working as an assistant offensive coach for Greendale's Pop Warner football team, or when Abed was pulling work-study hours at the library or exploring The Exchange, that old comic book and movies shop near campus, Troy usually hung out…with Abed. The time apart, focused on their own interests, was definitely good; that first bio lab had taught them that being in each other's company 24/7 could be a bit much.

" _But still,"_ that nagging voice (Troy called it his high school ghost) asked, as they retreated to the living room, _"isn't it kinda weird to just be chilling solo with a dude this much?"_

"Hey, Troy." Abed held up an Xbox 360 controller and their shared copy of Grand Theft Auto 4. "Wanna raise some mayhem in Liberty City?"

" _Isn't it weirder to think too much about having fun with your best friend?"_ Troy asked himself back before responding jovially in his best (still pretty bad) European accent, "Sure, cousin! Let's go bowling."

His worries slipped away as the two of them hopped on Xbox Live and actually did visit the in-game bowling alley near Hove Beach before getting down to the chaotic business of stealing cop cars. And anyway, they wouldn't be living alone for too much longer, not with Annie officially becoming their roommate by the end of September.

**

They'd discussed the matter of Annie moving in with them during one summer evening in late July after she'd come over for a game night, along with Jeff and Britta. Troy remembered how Annie had seemed a bit hesitant to depart afterward, mentioning something about a guy named Spaghetti who had a penchant for public indecency and even more indecent public urination. After she left, Troy and Abed had analyzed the situation during their pre-sleep bunk-bed time, as was their custom for serious matters.

"So, it sounds like Annie's place kinda sucks," Abed had mused.

"Yeah," Troy had confirmed. "It's a mess. When I dropped her off after we went out for my 21st birthday, I was thinking, if you had a blacklight from Room Raiders, you'd probably see a bunch of nasty stuff in the halls. I wouldn't even want to go in some of the other people's apartments."

Abed had then asked, "Would you be alright with her living here? I think after the whole storyline of Pierce blackmailing her with rent money, her apartment's arc is played out. And she proved herself to be a formidable ally during the last paintball war. There could be untapped potential with us as a trio."

"She did," Troy had agreed. "And I think we'd all get along well. Not to mention, getting a third person here would cut down on rent. It would probably take some adjusting, but I'd be up for it. Or down for it." He'd paused before his brow crinkled in confusion. "How can those phrases mean the same thing?"

Troy had been a bit surprised when Abed suggested Annie move in during their housewarming party, but he'd assured both of them that such a gesture was "attuned to the optimal timeline," whatever that meant. As much as he loved having adventures with Abed, Troy sometimes lacked the patience or creativity to give serious thought toward some of his more "out of the box" ideas (which were less out of the box and more out of the whole entire box-making factory). The theory that Jeff had created parallel dimensions during his completely ordinary dice-rolling ruse to avoid getting the pizza was one of them.

**

" _Still,_ " Troy reflected as he waited to spawn back into GTA IV Online following a brutal motorcycle accident and five-car-pileup, _"we obviously would've asked Annie to join us at some other point, regardless. And it'll be cool to see how she fits in here tomorrow."_ The idea of hosting a mini "test run" and devising the framework for a new normal seemed like it would pay dividends for all of them, but especially for Abed and Annie. Of the three of them, they definitely clung to routines the most.

As if on cue, his and Abed's phones chimed with a notification from their trio's group chat.

Annie: _Hey guys! I've got a group project to work on tomorrow for my business admin course. I should be able to get out of it by 1, and then I'll probably get a bite to eat, so I could come over by 2 or 2:30? And I was thinking we could maybe all go grocery shopping after we settle our plans and then make dinner together._

Abed: _Either time should be good._ _As far as a roommate group shopping montage and a shared meal goes? Count me in._

Troy: _^What he said. Any thoughts on dinner? We're good with pretty much anything besides salad._

Annie: _Maybe deconstructed eggplant parm as a pizza alternative? We can talk it out tomorrow._

Troy figured that would be the conclusion of their group text, but Abed ended up texting Annie to make movie suggestions, followed by the two of them taking her through the finer points of some FPS games she might enjoy. Before they knew it, they'd abandoned their game in favor of talking to Annie, on the phone, like old folks, until she called it an early night.

"I've gotta get ahead on some work in the morning before I meet up with my group project team, guys," she told them around 9:30. "So I'm gonna turn in soon. See you tomorrow!"

Abed hung up his phone—Troy's had been low on battery—then turned to Troy. "Is it just me, or is Annie getting more awesome lately?"

"Yeah," Troy nodded absent-mindedly. His brain had registered that their conversation with Annie was the longest he—and Abed, too, he guessed—had spoken to a girl in a while without any kind of stoppage, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with that awareness. "It's…" he frowned. While he usually had no problem getting words from his brain to his mouth—if anything, he needed more of a filter—he was struggling to translate his feelings into words at the moment. "It's a little weird. We kinda usually have our own thing going on," he noted, gesturing between the two of them. "Like Charlie Conway and Adam Banks' chemistry once Banks joins the Ducks."

Abed nodded appreciatively at the reference. "Or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, if they were men."

Troy quietly finds safety in these comparisons, in not having to define his relationship with Abed beyond the term "best friend" because, well, it takes away a lot of potential complexities. He has enough to handle with non-complexities, like trying to score chicken tenders at lunch and translating parts of Beowulf for his Old English class.

As his thoughts drifted away, he noticed that Abed's eyes had glazed over for a second as he stared into the distance. Troy let him be, knowing he was calculating something or other as he muttered, "Hmm...slim odds there. But they're still there, nevertheless." His gaze cleared up as he turned back to Troy. "Extrapolating from your suggestion of playing in ChalkZone, Troy." Abed took a deep breath as if steeling himself, then asked, "What would you think about having Annie take on the role of Penny?"

"You mean, tomorrow?" Troy asked, aiming for casual and missing it by a good three yards, if his voice crack was any indication.

Abed nodded solemnly. "There is some risk that Annie could find it too weird. On the other hand, it could make for an extraordinarily compelling pilot."

The fact that Abed, the true keeper of the Dreamatorium, was thinking about introducing Annie to it before her official move-in spoke to just how compelling an event it could be. That was nearly enough to sway Troy entirely on its own, but he still registered a twinge of trepidation.

"I agree," he stated carefully. "But I think we should frame it very much as a suggestion and not something she has to do to prove herself as a worthy roommate. And we should have a four-chalk-portal limit if she agrees to join."

"Both smart ideas," Abed responded warmly, and Troy registered the satisfaction that hit just before Abed asked, "Are you good with opening the Dreamatorium up to a third person?"

"Are _you_ good with opening the Dreamatorium up to a third person?" Troy asked back.

After a moment, Abed nodded. "Annie's cool."

"Yeah," Troy answered, saying the words as much to himself as he was responding to Abed, because who would have _ever_ thought that he would, one day, sincerely acknowledge that Annie Edison was cool? "She is."

**

True to her word, Annie arrived just a bit before 2:30 the next day. They all quickly hashed out the details of her move—between Annie, Troy, and Shirley all having vehicles, they could easily transfer most of Annie's belongings over. "I'll probably have to rent one of those mini U-Haul things for my bed," she conceded, "but other than that, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Now, um, as far as my living situation here...?" Her statement turned into a question at the end, and Troy and Abed jumped in to answer it.

"Do you know one of the best parts about being an adult, Annie?" Abed asked.

She tried to consider the question from his perspective and guessed, "Being able to have dessert for breakfast?"

Abed replied, "In general, yes. For the purposes of this context, no. One of the best parts about being an adult is…"

Troy filled in the remainder of the sentence. "Being able to build a blanket fort whenever you want! We'll just set up shop in the living room here, with our bunk beds," he gestured to the spot they'd picked out, "and you can take our current bedroom."

Annie laughed for a second before realizing, "Wait, you're serious. While I appreciate knowing I'll have a room, you guys are really fine with living in a blanket fort?"

"Why not?" Abed asked.

"It really wouldn't be too different from our current setup, except for figuring out closet space. But we're expert engineers, so we should be able to come up with something," Troy added proudly.

Truth be told, he expected Annie to laugh again, to tell them to turn the Dreamatorium back into a bedroom to live there like normal people, but instead she simply shrugged in a sort of weird, exaggeratedly loose motion. "Well...if you guys are okay with that, who am I to say otherwise? But if you do need extra space for your clothes, just lemme know, alright? I'm kind of an expert packer and folder."

Troy grinned at her. "Thanks. We might take you up on that."

"Alright, the general move-in plan is resolved, then," Annie noted in a satisfied tone as she retrieved a pen and a small journal from her purse, flipped it open, and crossed it off her list. "I have some ideas for apartment guidelines I'd like to share, if that's okay?" she asked hopefully. "I don't want to completely remove the spontaneity and whimsy from this space, but…" she trailed off, unsure of how to complete her sentence.

Troy was struggling for a good response himself when Abed piped up, "That's totally fine. As new roommates with different norms, we should have open communication. On TV, a lack of discussion regarding living situations is almost always exploited for B-grade tension or cheap laughs. Like in Friends, when Monica and Phoebe are labeled as incompatible roommates, or when Chandler moves in with Monica and tries to clean without having the faintest clue of what her organizational system is."

He paused for a second, then added, "For the record, I'd generally compare our current living situation to Chandler and Joey on a good day. But with you here, Annie, I think we should re-calibrate for more of a Rachel and Joey vibe. We can make apartment 303 a bit more orderly without sacrificing its unique brand of fun and hijinks."

Troy nodded along with his logic, and as he saw Annie following suit, he couldn't help but marvel, _"And some people think Abed can't relate well to others?"_

Sure, having TV inform a significant portion of his worldview sometimes backfired, but generally, the comparisons he formed struck home with startling accuracy.

Annie blinked for a couple of seconds, trying to re-gather her thoughts (Abed's monologues tended to have that effect on people, even his best friends), so Troy chimed in, "Where were you thinking of starting, in terms of guidelines?"

She flashed him a grateful smile before answering, "First on my list is cleaning. As in, how often does that happen, and what does it entail?"

Troy and Abed shared an uneasy glance, since the answers to those questions were "almost never" and "next to nothing."

Annie sighed as she read their expressions. "Honestly, I kinda expected that. Could we try instituting a bi-weekly cleaning schedule? Nothing super crazy," she added quickly, "just vacuuming and dusting common areas, and cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen. And sometimes cleaning out the fridge."

"We'll need to get some cleaning supplies, but sure," Troy responded. "Can't be too hard to turn it into some kind of game," he added, grinning slightly when Abed's lips quirked up at that.

"Ok, let me make a note for reference," Annie muttered, her gel pen flowing across the page. "And in terms of grocery shopping and having dinners…" she blushed a little. "Would it be super lame for us to plan to eat together most nights? I know sometimes it wouldn't happen with our schedules since we're all working now, but, I don't know. I think it would help me feel more at home."

"Definitely," Troy and Abed replied together, and Abed noted, "Troy and I usually have dinners together when we're both here at night already."

Annie gave a trademark "aww" before asking, "Do you guys plan out your meals at all, or have a regular day you go grocery shopping?"

"Not really," Troy admitted. "But we did go shopping yesterday to stock up on some staples and Aldi wasn't too busy. And coming up with more meals to put in our dinner rotation would be good." He wasn't sure why exactly he wanted to impress Annie.

 _"Probably because she sometimes has more of a handle on general life skills than we do,"_ he guessed. Plus, he didn't want her to worry too much about being the responsible one, not when he and Abed could reasonably shoulder some of the work that would entail.

"I think I'd prefer making Friday our grocery shopping day rather than Saturday," Abed noted. "That way, we can maximize weekend shenanigans."

"I'd be good with that," Annie nodded. "We can adjust if needed based on our work schedules. And I'll bring a little pad with a magnet to put on the fridge for making grocery lists." She crossed that item off her list and looked it over again before announcing, "Those were the two main topics I wanted to go over today, really. If I think of anything else, I'll just ask you guys about it sometime when we're together or text you."

"I had a question, actually," Abed commented. "Is there protocol for if you bring Jeff or another partner back here for coupling purposes?"

"J-Jeff?" Annie stuttered. "Abed, I'm definitely not bringing him here for...coupling purposes. Or anyone else, probably."

"Ok, I've just caught some googly eyes between you two here and there, so I felt like I should ask."

"Those have been out of friendly fondness, nothing more," Annie answered firmly. "I feel like Jeff's been shedding more and more of his lawyerly persona, so that's been nice to see. And I'll admit, we have fun on our weird little adventures," she continued. "But when we talked about our dynamic after I had my Model UN meltdown, I realized I was totally over wanting to date him."

She suddenly shot a sly grin at the boys to turn the tables. "Are the two of you having any ideas, about, um, coupling up with anyone?"

"Umm…" Troy considered mentioning his kiss with Britta, but it was old news and he hadn't really thought of her in that way for a while. So he settled on a simple, "No, not right now, at least."

Abed shook his head and replied, "No," as well.

Annie hesitated, as if expecting him to share more details. Troy made a mental note to tell her that his best friend took yes and no questions quite literally.

"So, if there's nothing else for now...meeting adjourned?" Troy suggested.

"Sure. I'm thinking we could maybe go grocery shopping in a bit. Does deconstructed eggplant parm still sound appealing for dinner?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, deconstructed meals are up our alley. We've made deconstructed tacos, deconstructed burgers," Abed listed. "And we have some pasta sauce, noodles, and mozzarella cheese. Definitely no eggplant, though."

"Ok, I'll see what else you have and what the recipe calls for."

As she analyzed their current grocery supplies and general kitchen situation, Annie gave an impressed nod. "I'd figured we'd need to buy a lot of essentials, but you keep a pretty well-stocked pantry. Besides the eggplant, I think we'll only need breadcrumbs, parchment paper, and maybe a couple more herb and spice blends for tonight's dinner."

"Well, like I said before, we just went shopping yesterday. Before that, we didn't have much around," Troy admitted sheepishly. "But we didn't want you to think we, like, expect you to do all the kitchen stuff."

"Well, thank you for that, guys," Annie smiled, almost absentmindedly resting her hand on Troy's forearm for a second. She scooched Abed away from the kitchen's door frame, applying a gentle touch to his side so she could get through to grab her purse from where she'd left it in the living room. "I think we can just go to Whole Foods since we aren't getting much today," Annie told them. "With my 20% employee discount, the cost should be pretty close to Aldi's prices."

With that, the three of them were off.

**

Troy had expected the store to be abuzz with activity, given that it was a mid-to-late afternoon Saturday, but there was little more than a faint hum in most aisles once they got out of the produce section with one oversized eggplant. As they made their way to the paper supplies at the far end of the store to grab the parchment paper, the last item on their list, they found it was utterly deserted.

Troy held his hand up to get Annie to stop the cart. He quickly turned to Abed and grinned. "You thinking what I'm thinking, buddy?"

"Da-da-da, da-da-da!" Abed answered triumphantly with a perfect imitation of the SportsCenter theme song.

"I'm missing something, aren't I," Annie commented, her tone landing somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

Abed plucked the cart out of her grasp. "Excuse me, I'll just be taking this for a few seconds, miss." He bowed graciously to Annie as Troy announced, "We're back, folks, with another exciting grocery cart race! Coming to you live from the Greendale Whole Foods, Aisle 14B, it's a friendly between Abed Nadir and Troy Barnes."

"Troy! Abed! I _work here_ , you know!" Annie hissed, but her voice was half-scandalized, half-intrigued, and that was enough for them to go forward with their game.

"Yeah, that's why we'll play through quickly," Abed promised as he kicked his right foot against the ground a couple of times before he got started on his cart ride.

Troy quickly jumped into the narration as he speed-walked behind Abed, with Annie trailing in his wake. "Nadir with good speed on the takeoff, swift but controlled through the first half of the aisle. Now he's going for the ice skater pose with his left leg out, and as he tucks it back in, he transitions into a half-wheelie!" he exclaimed. "Less challenging than a full one, but with items already in the cart, that was the right move, and the judges should reward him accordingly for his good judgement. That concludes a strong run for Abed, especially given the lack of practice heats."

Abed dismounted from the cart and gave it a sharp turn-about. He and Troy both looked at Annie, silently asking for permission, or at least quick forgiveness later.

She rolled her eyes before biting back a smile that she aimed at the floor. "Oh, go on," she waved at Troy. "It wouldn't be fair to the competition for Abed to have an uncontested victory, even if it's only a friendly match. But if you crash into anything, I'm denying that I know either one of you," she warned.

He snorted. "Please. Like this is my first grocery cart race, Annie." He got up to speed quickly and Abed took over the narration.

"Barnes exits the blocks with strong velocity and drops low, preferring more of a skateboarding stance," he announced for their audience of one. "There's the pivot to the side, and he transitions to the one-hand grip...will Barnes attempt the grocery grab?" Troy snatched at a long box of parchment paper as he whizzed by the shelf, double-clutched it, and caught it. "And yes, he completes it!" Abed crowed. "Great concentration from our competitor as he finishes a well-done solo race."

They each completed quick postgame interviews and shared a handshake as they all made their way to the front of the store to cash out, with Annie shaking her head in slight disbelief. "You two are _ridiculous._ "

Troy would agree, for sure, but the particular way she said "ridiculous" made him frown.

It wasn't mean or insulting or anything like that. Far from it. Instead, it had an almost hidden layer of affection, like the fudge stripe inside Dairy Queen ice cream cakes. And when Troy had noticed that layer of Annie's voice in the past, it was when she was flirting with Jeff.

He glanced over at Abed, hoping they could non-verbally confirm his theory together, but Abed's lips had quirked up at Annie's comment—the equivalent of what would be a pretty big grin for most people—and Troy couldn't catch his eye right away as they exited the store.

" _It's probably just relief from her end, more than anything,"_ Troy rationalized. _"That living with two weird dudes will work out fine, or at least better than being stuck in the apartment above Dildopolis."_

He let his mind wander a bit as they walked through the parking lot toward Annie's car, thinking about what episode of ChalkZone he and Abed would show her after dinner before proposing their Dreamatorium idea, when he almost bumped into his two friends, who'd stopped abruptly.

"Troy! Were you listening to me?" Annie asked.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Zoned out for a minute. What's up?"

"Annie wants to try her hand, or feet, I guess, at cart riding," Abed explained.

Troy lit up. "Right now? Cool!"

"Well, I want to wait til I'm a bit closer to my car since we're parked in the back of the lot, away from most other customers," she admitted.

"Sure thing," Troy nodded as Abed asked, "Know what you're doing?"

She nodded, and a mischievous grin came over her face as she gripped the cart tighter. "I haven't done this...God, since I was a kid, but watching you both earlier...it looked fun. And Britta sometimes goes for cart joy-rides when we're on our weekend shopping trips to piss off the mall cops. So I think I can handle it."

It might have been Annie mentioning Britta, and his thinking of how he'd kissed Britta earlier, that adjusted the train tracks of Troy's brain.

Troy had always thought both Britta and Annie were attractive, in different ways. Britta possessed more of a fierce beauty, honed to sharp edges, whereas Annie was, as he put it, "school-teacher pretty." It had something to do with the headbands, colorful cardigans, floral dresses, and sensible flats, probably.

He'd noticed hints of some _other_ kind of beauty there, though, under her surface. A volatile, electric type of allure. Most recently, it had come out during the Wild West paintball war, when Annie had her trigger finger permanently ready, tracing over the handle of her gun. If Britta was a hurricane in those moments (and in a lot of other ones, truthfully), then Annie was a thunderstorm. A more manageable kind of natural phenomenon.

Troy caught a flash of that glamour again in the determination on Annie's face, in the blazing look in her eyes as she kicked her left foot hard once, twice, three times against the pavement in the parking lot. Suddenly, she elevated her left foot up on the cart to join her right and stood tall, then gave a whoop of exhilaration and a full, gut-busting, unrestrained laugh as her hair whipped out behind her in a flyaway mess.

In that moment, Troy was surprised that he didn't realize it sooner.

"It" being that Annie Edison was kinda, sorta gorgeous _._

Her gasp broke him out of his reverie, and as she swayed slightly, he and Abed both placed their hands on the small of her back to steady her. They held her more firmly against the cart and Annie adjusted her grip on it. In that instant, Troy felt heat on his palm, rising from Annie's back, and on the tops of his knuckles, from where Abed's hand was resting over his.

It felt a little weird, at first. But it also reminded him of the warm contentment he once associated with the football field, on those beautiful, clock-chewing drives that ended with him reading and dissecting a red-zone defense with perfect ease, with his dad clapping and giving him a proud fist-pump from the stands after helping his team score a touchdown. That contentment now lived, more often than not, with Abed, when the two of them could enjoy playing games together or talking about everything and nothing long after they should've gone to sleep. And Troy had almost always thought it was something that could only exist between the two of them.

But as he and Abed high-fived Annie as she got down off the cart, the idea of inviting her to join in that feeling, of playtime sometimes expanding from _one, two_ to _one, two, three_ , was making him reconsider.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve never written from an Abed-centric perspective before, so my apologies if the way I present him feels a bit off compared to the show. Also, my inspiration for the voice in the Dreamatorium came from the Heart used in the Dishonored video game series. Here’s a clip of it, should anyone care to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_gDvX4Z5Lw
> 
> I don’t really remember why I got the idea that the 3 of them would all be at least kinda into ChalkZone, but I had fun writing that scene, so I decided to roll with it.

When something unexpected intersected with Abed's life outside of the Dreamatorium—like, say, when your generally buttoned-up friend rode a grocery cart through a Whole Foods parking lot to her car, letting out laughs that echoed loudly enough to ring in your ears for a few seconds—he usually searched for comfort in the familiar. So, naturally, after he, Troy, and Annie had gotten back to their place (it's still only his and Troy's place, technically, but that distinction will lose validity in a couple of weeks, so, whatever) and put away the groceries, he suggested, "Let's watch some Inspector Spacetime before we make dinner."

Okay, he couched it as more of a demand than a suggestion, but it was only the third time he'd pulled that trick in the past two weeks. Troy had recently encouraged him to limit that behavior.

Abed had learned a lot from Troy, both directly and indirectly, during their time at Greendale. Like how to sometimes yield to what other people wanted even if he had a better idea. Like how it was prudent to avoid becoming indebted to celebrity impersonator mob bosses. Like how apartment 303 felt more like a home than his dorm room ever had, even though Troy had come over to hang out a lot, because the two of them were sharing it.

And now they were sharing it with Annie, together. Or preparing to, at least.

Shirley had offered a roundabout warning regarding this change. Something about how having a little bit of butter on popcorn was fine, but getting too much butter slathered on at the movie theater could turn a bowl of it sickly and disgusting in an instant. Standard Christian fare about the dangers of excess amid mixed-sex living arrangements. Abed had been expecting that talk ever since she'd cornered Troy to discuss Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, his favorite treat, in unnecessarily great detail after one study session.

He'd agreed with Shirley on her _literal_ point, of course. Abed preferred ordering his popcorn without butter, as most concessions employees didn't take kindly to his specifications on how he wanted it distributed throughout the tub. On the rare occasion that a theater offered a self-use butter dispenser, he'd deploy one pump of artificial deliciousness into the second layer of popcorn, where it could get well-integrated into the snack without making a mess of his hands during previews. Following his explanation, Shirley had sighed and reneged on her morality tale.

Frankly, Abed still struggled to see much use for it, even as they were growing ever closer to Annie's official move-in date. After all, Troy was simply his best friend, and Annie, his second best friend. They were attractive in ways both conventional—nice eyes, generally pleasing facial structures, bright smiles, et cetera—and unconventional. For instance, Troy made up half of a fake morning show that taped at 6 AM and carried with him a chipper attitude that somehow wasn't grating at that early hour. And aside from that one time they'd brought Rich on to make his kettle corn, Annie was easily their most eager guest contributor.

Despite being able to readily admit to their attractiveness, Abed had an extremely difficult time picturing anything between them turning carnal. It would be quite the twist, and while some episodes with his friends and the larger group as a whole had featured significant surprises, a three-way polyamourous relationship felt a bridge too far.

" _Still, it's a bit weird that what's strange in real life is often what's formulaic on TV,"_ Abed thought to himself. _"The ex-jock and pop culture nerd are best friends? Classic 'unexpected bonding' trope. And the neurotic academic and the comedians rub off on each other? Well, that's just a standard trait transfer maneuver,"_ he noted silently _. "It's all a bit too obvious, too neat, too formulaic. There's got to be something I'm missing…"_

"Abed? You just missed it."

"Hmm? Sorry, what?" he asked Troy quizzically, having heard the note of confusion in his voice. He was surprised to see Annie surveying him with something like frustration, as well, from her perch on a dining room chair she'd pulled into the living room.

She rolled her eyes. "The one time I make a space joke during Inspector Spacetime and your mind is somewhere else."

He duffed an imaginary cap towards Annie to mollify her. "My sincerest apologies." He considered tacking on a "milady," but didn't really want to call back to a classic Winger line. Abed could slip into Jeff's character—the half-slacker, half-try-hard charmer—and his adjacent permutations, like Han Solo, easily enough, but he always felt a smidge oily afterwards. There was an air of cavalier insincerity Abed needed to draw upon to deploy that charm, and it never sat well with him.

Annie inclined her head ever so slightly in response and answered, with the tiniest hint of residual iciness in her voice, "Want to help me chop up and season the eggplant after this?"

Despite her irritation with him, Abed couldn't help but laugh (in his head, of course). It seemed he wasn't the only one with a talent for framing demands as suggestions.

He replied quietly, "Of course." The key to diffusing any lingering annoyance in this kind of situation was to answer sincerely, but in a subdued tone, to convey a second, unspoken apology. Come off as too eager to agree with the wounded party and you risked having a genuine response misconstrued as sarcasm; too flippant and it was assumed you didn't care about the hurt you'd caused.

Annie smiled back at him. "Ok, thanks."

Abed really didn't comprehend why more men didn't immerse themselves in the wide world of television and instead stuck largely to sports. Countless communication lessons were available all over cable, even in basic sitcoms with as much depth and flavor as Wonder Bread.

"Oh, Troy, would you mind rewinding the show a couple of minutes?" Annie asked.

He groaned. "And the two of you sometimes get on _me_ for talking too much during TV time."

" _Well, that resolution was predictable, but I still enjoyed it,"_ Abed thought as he fondly glanced back and forth between his two best friends while Troy aimed the remote at the screen.

**

"Alright, so, step one: de-skinning the eggplant so it doesn't leave a bitter aftertaste," Annie explained once the scene had transitioned to the kitchen. "Do you guys have a good vegetable or fruit knife, one with a flat, wide blade?" she asked as he retrieved a cutting board.

Abed put the cutting board down on their mini-island in the kitchen and rummaged around in one of the drawers. "As far as non-butter knives go...we have a few steak knives. That's about it."

"It won't be great, but I think I can make do with this," Annie murmured after he passed her one. "We could probably find a decent set of kitchen knives at Target for $40, at most; I'll add that to my notebook later."

She sliced into one side of the eggplant, mentioning as she went, "You don't want to cut too deep into it, but if you lose a little layer of eggplant when you're removing the skin, that's fine." After she'd cut off most of the skin on one side, then another, she asked, "You want to try cutting the skin off the other half, Abed?"

He nodded. "Sure thing." He made quick work of it and Annie said quietly, "Sorry. I'd forgotten you know your way around a kitchen from working with your dad. And in the cafeteria a while back."

"I do," he acknowledged, "but I haven't cooked much besides buttered noodles lately, so I didn't really mind the refresher. What's the next step?"

"If you could start cubing the eggplant into roughly bite-sized chunks, that would be helpful," Annie answered brightly.

Abed chopped up a few pieces on the cutting board and presented them to her. "Like this?"

Annie inspected them. "Yeah, those are great," she nodded. "Just please be sure to not cut them too finely or too small since they'll lose moisture and shrink down in the oven."

Once he'd chopped up about half the eggplant, Annie gently placed her hand on his left arm, getting him to stop just before he started in on the rest of the vegetable. "Would you mind if I showed Troy how to do this?" she whispered. "I think he could use the practice at chopping veggies more than you."

"I'd agree," Abed admitted. "Anything else we need to do at the moment?"

Annie reviewed their current progress. "Could you peel the skin off some of the eggplant cubes where it's still attached? Most of them look fine, but it really does make a significant difference in taste."

"Yep, will do," he replied as Annie called to the living room, "Hey, Troy, would you mind helping out with dinner, please?"

His voice came back a touch tremulous. "Um, are you sure you want me to do that?"

"Of course!" she called back just before Abed informed her, "You say please a lot."

Annie opened her mouth and shut it again, not knowing how to respond. Abed took her cue and continued, "It's nice. When I was working with my dad in the restaurant, he ordered me around more. Not out of meanness, exactly, but he was just kind of gruff and it made things uncomfortable. I like not feeling that way when I'm cooking. Like right now."

"Abed! Like I'd order you around in your own kitchen," Annie laughed lightly, but she sounded pleased at his observation when Troy came in to join them, looking a little apprehensive.

While Abed continued to diligently peel the skin off the eggplant pieces, he also glanced over here and there to watch how Annie worked with Troy, admiring how she went about teaching him in such an orderly fashion—first demonstrating how to cut the eggplant by chopping up a few cubes herself, then guiding him through a couple of practice slices with her hand over his as he cut some pieces, and, finally, letting Troy complete the task on his own.

"That's really good, Troy," she told him after he got the rhythm of slicing down. He grinned shyly as he asked, "Really?" and received a couple of happy nods in response.

Abed suddenly recognized, with a start, that Annie's methods of teaching cooking didn't differ that much from how Troy talked him through how to respond to certain social situations. Though Troy's explanations usually involved more hand gestures and unorthodox similes.

Part of him had been anxious about introducing a third person into his and Troy's space, even someone he knew as well as Annie, given his preference for establishing routines and order. Or at least a kind of order that made sense to him, even if others couldn't grasp it. _"Well, maybe Annie coming over a couple of times already has helped you adapt to her being here in a quasi-roommate role today,"_ Abed reasoned for a second before frowning. After all, the three of them had never cooked together before, yet her presence in their kitchen felt natural.

He frowned again. No, it was something more than that. Annie's presence already offered him comfort and familiarity. In a way that was, somewhat paradoxically, both like and unlike how Troy made him feel.

Abed hunted for a television comparison, for a trio of characters that fit their current situation, as he and Troy retrieved garlic and onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper from the pantry. He continued wracking his brain, even going through back catalogues of short-lived cult shows (hello there, Pushing Daisies) as Annie put parchment paper down on a pan, transferred the cut-up eggplant onto it, and drizzled liberal doses of olive oil over the cubes. Try as he might while he and Troy added pinches of herbs and seasonings, though, Abed couldn't find anything that aligned with their existing dynamic.

" _Maybe that's okay, sometimes,"_ he thought to himself as Annie slid the tray into the oven, then turned it on to 450. _"I'm fine with us just being us right now. Totally fine with it."_

Unlike so many other times in his life when his reassurances rang out false, nothing more than hollow defense mechanisms, they sang true in this moment.

**

As the eggplant baked away in the oven, Troy got the pasta going and Abed set up the tray tables in the living room. Annie finished off the eggplant later on, topping it with pasta sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and breadcrumbs for texture before broiling it for a few minutes.

"You wanna talk to her about playing ChalkZone in the Dreamatorium before we watch or after?" Troy asked him as Annie went ahead of them to the living room with her plate.

"Hmm...maybe part-way through the episode?" Abed suggested. "That way, we can see if she enjoys it. If she does, then she'll also have a chance to view things through a more critical lens and get immersed in the setting. And if she doesn't like it, or doesn't want to watch at all, we just won't ask and we'll do something else after dinner."

Troy nodded in agreement as they made their way to the living room. "Sounds good, buddy." He carefully set his plate down on his tray table before going over to their DVD cabinet. After flicking through his and Abed's personally curated creations for a few seconds, he withdrew one.

"Mind if we watch an episode of ChalkZone with dinner, Annie?" he asked casually. "We'd be happy to go with the pilot so you get what's going on."

"Plus it would be fitting to watch during our collective pilot episode," Abed added hopefully.

She nodded as she ate, swallowed, then said, "Sure, guys. By the way, great job on helping to make dinner! The eggplant's seasoned really well, and the pasta has a nice texture, so it was definitely cooked the right amount of time."

"Thanks," they answered proudly as Troy inserted the disc into the DVD player.

To their surprise, and pleasure, Annie sat up and gave a couple of interested-looking nods as the show's intro played, and laughed at how Rudy drew a massive vat of glue to add to the two-seater airplane that Snap was flying.

When they'd reached about the halfway point of the episode, Troy paused it to ask, "So, what do you think of the show so far?"

"I like it!" she answered. "I don't know that I'd watch it regularly, but as far as light, fun, quirky cartoons go, it's good."

"Glad you're enjoying it," Abed answered. "So, we were wondering—" he paused, recalling what Troy had mentioned recently about not springing potentially big questions on people, and adjusted his sentence. "Do you remember when Troy and I had talked about playing ChalkZone in the Dreamatorium on Thursday?"

"Sure," she nodded. "You wanted to save it for the weekend. Did you guys end up doing that yesterday after we talked?"

"We didn't," Troy answered. "We decided to go for it today."

Abed then cut in, "And we were curious if you'd like to join us, as Penny."

"You—you guys want me to play, too?" she stammered. "But isn't the Dreamatorium kind of, like, _your_ thing?" she gestured vaguely between the two of them.

"It is and it isn't," Troy responded.

Abed clarified further, "The Dreamatorium is bigger than any one, or two, or even three, of us. But since you're going to be our roommate, we felt it would be a disservice to not invite you to join in on adventures there," he added. "If you don't want to, though, no pressure."

"Yeah, it's 100% your choice, Annie," Troy emphasized. "We'd be more than happy for you to come along, but if you don't want to play, that's totally fine."

She glanced back and forth between both of them and...Abed frowned for a second. Was she blushing?

"Honestly, I'm, I'm flattered that you'd ask," she responded, taking another bite of eggplant and pasta and chewing thoughtfully. "But I don't know that I really have the imagination to keep up with you two. I never spent much time creating or building worlds in my head, even when I was a kid," she admitted, her eyes cast downward. "I wouldn't want to be a drag."

" _She's dodging the question,"_ Abed realized. He recognized Annie was still, and would always be, a bit more uptight and serious than he and Troy ever were, and in some circumstances, that was a positive. Heck, her impending move-in had gotten them to improve their kitchen drastically in all of one day.

Right now, though, her more buttoned-up side was manifesting itself in one of its worse ways—seeking out weak excuses to deny Annie a potential opportunity at fun. On a Saturday, no less.

Abed decided to go for the direct route. "We're not asking about that. We're just asking, do you want to join us on the adventure?"

The question struck home, as Annie's eyes widened for a second before she answered softly, "Yes." Then, as if gaining more faith in herself that she'd made the right choice, she nodded and affirmed to both of them, "Yes, that sounds like fun."

Abed knew the best way to lighten the mood and answered, "Cool," just once.

When he said nothing more, Troy and Annie glanced at each other excitedly. They both responded "Cool cool cool" together, giggling as they completed their reference.

When Troy pressed "Play" to resume the episode, Abed forked a piece of eggplant into his mouth, gave a satisfied sigh as he ate it, and smiled softly. _"If I'm not in a TV show, then why do I have a signature catchphrase?"_

**

"You ready to do this?" Troy asked Annie once he and Abed had changed and emerged from their bedroom. Thankfully, today's costumes weren't too intricate. Troy had just thrown on khakis and a green shirt for the role of Rudy, and Abed put on a blue shirt and blue jeans before donning one of his bedsheets as a makeshift cape to take on Snap's character.

She gave an excited nod, and they approached the door together.

"Abed will create the initial scenario, and then it takes a minute to materialize," Troy explained just before he and Abed opened it.

"So...can we help him? Are we involved in this at all?" Annie asked quietly.

Troy murmured back, "Since we're basing this adventure off something we're less familiar with, it's easier for one person to do it. Let's give him some space." He put a finger to his lips. Abed could hear Troy and Annie tiptoe back away from him as he closed his eyes.

He was grateful for their understanding, and even more grateful that they didn't press him too much on specifics about how the Dreamatorium worked. He hadn't even told _Troy_ all about the mental conversations he had with the Dreamatorium's disembodied voice—he'd come to think of it as its essence—and he usually told Troy everything.

" _Abed. Welcome back. I see your compatriot Troy is here, as usual. And do we have a third companion today?"_ the Dreamatorium's voice asked in his head, her curiosity piqued.

" _Annie Edison. Future roommate, paintball maestro, and organizer extraordinaire,"_ he thought proudly.

" _Ooh...consider me charmed,"_ she breathed _. "She's got the potential to be something golden within these walls. If she can learn to trust herself, her instincts,"_ the voice murmured. _"And I sense a strong bond, running like a current, between all three of you. Forged in wartime, strengthened in peace."_

Abed turned the words over in his head. He recalled the three of them trudging off campus at the end of last semester, drenched head-to-toe in orange paint, exhausted but happy, before thinking in reply, _"You could say that."_

" _It's been augmented especially recently, it seems,"_ she went on. _"I don't recall feeling this magnetism extending beyond you and Troy the last time you were here."_

" _I guess that's true,"_ he admitted, reflecting on how they'd been spending more time together this week before thinking, softly, _"Speaking of that bond, I have a humble request."_

The voice chuckled and answered, with a hint of a smirk, _"Come now, Abed. You know how I feel about requests, no matter how eloquently they're presented."_

" _I do,_ " he replied. _"However, this is Annie's first time in the Dreamatorium, and we're running a sort of pilot episode, a test run of her living here. With those circumstances in place, could we have a slightly less taxing environment today, please?"_

The voice turned a bit warmer. _"Given the level of respect you and Troy have shown the Dreamatorium, I can make some allowances—but be warned, the girl must still prove her mettle. For what it's worth, I hope she does,"_ the voice continued, that layer of warmth now outweighing the cold warning.

" _Understood. Thank you."_

" _You're welcome."_

**

Abed opened his eyes once the voice faded out entirely, then called out, "Dreamatorium, render environment: Rudy's classroom in ChalkZone."

" _Whoa,"_ Annie breathed after a few seconds. "Guys, this is _insane._ "

"Guys?" Troy asked, his brow furrowing. "Penny, I'm the only guy here."

"Troy, what are you…" she gave her head a shake as she stopped talking. "Sorry, _Rudy,_ " she corrected herself, and Abed couldn't help but grin at how quickly she'd adapted to their game. "I forgot Snap is already in ChalkZone."

"Yep," Troy replied. "So we should go visit. I just got a fresh piece of White Lightnin'," he bragged, flipping a stick of chalk up into the air and catching it.

" _Nice touch to grab that, buddy,"_ Abed thought with admiration. _"And way to make the reference specific."_

Troy drew a large circle in front of him and high-stepped through it, then turned around to beckon to Annie, catching her left hand with his to pull her through the portal.

"So, how do we get down from this ledge?" she asked.

Troy started to draw something, then thought better of it and passed the chalk to her. "Depends. How do you want to get down from it?"

Abed gave him an imperceptible nod, as if to say, _"Good job involving Annie."_

She glanced around uncertainly for a second, then wondered aloud, "Can we take a slide?"

"Definitely," Troy grinned. "Just gotta draw it first."

"Okay, then." Annie chewed her lower lip in concentration as she drew a passable, long slide in the air in front of her, then set it down.

"Ladies first," Troy motioned to her. She sat down on the edge of the pretend slide and glanced back up at him, as if to ask, _"Do you really believe in this?"_

A second later, she was shooting down it, yelling, "Heads up, Snap, we're coming in hot!"

As she and Troy dusted themselves off, Abed nodded to both of them. "Rudy. Penny. Hope you're both doing well. How's Plainsville?"

"Plain as ever," Troy stated, and Annie laughed at the easy joke. "Has Skrawl caused any problems for the residents lately?"

Abed shook his head. "It's been quiet, so he's probably cooking up some scheme. But for now, we should be fine. Say, Penny, can you draw me a pop? Summer hasn't quite left ChalkZone yet."

She appeared poised to start, then asked, "What flavor?"

"Cherry Coke, please," Abed replied. Once Annie drew it, he took the pretend bottle and enjoyed a long sip, smacking his lips in satisfaction. "That's good."

Abed and Troy, as Snap and Rudy, showed Annie around ChalkZone, with Annie and Troy doodling a sundae bar with ample mix-ins, a light brown Corgi, and a Slip-n-Slide for the heck of it as they went.

Annie giggled as she stepped in between the two of them as they walked, linking her arms easily through theirs. "This is fun," she murmured to both of them, grinning guiltily for breaking character for a second, but they were more than happy to indulge her. "Like, really fun. I know it's a weekend, and that's definitely helping, but if today's any indication…" she smiled wider. "I'm gonna love living with you two."

Abed and Troy smiled back, hoping they conveyed their agreement, when Skrawl bobbed over from the park with his Beanie Boys in tow.

"Seriously, man?" Troy groaned. "You have to cause problems right now?"

"We just wanted to show our friend here a nice time in ChalkZone," Abed complained.

"I mean, I _am_ the villain," Skrawl responded. "It's kinda on-brand for me to ruin things, isn't it?"

Abed, Troy, and Annie looked at each other.

"He _does_ have a point," Annie commented.

"Okay, yeah, that's fair," Abed mentioned as Troy quickly sketched a half-shield, half-forcefield around the three of them. "Battle time?" he called.

Skrawl grinned. "Oh no, I'm not trying to battle you three. I'm trying to…" the Beanie Boys passed him a giant pencil, which he flipped around before yelling, "Erase you!"

"Ohhh, crap," Abed and Troy intoned as they each grabbed one of Annie's hands, turned around, and started running.

"Guys, what do we draw?" Annie yelled.

"I don't know, what erases a giant eraser?" Troy yelled back as they dodged another swipe. "Ooh, what about woodchucks? They'd bite the pencil down to nothing."

"Not a bad idea," Abed muttered under his breath. "That is one shitty woodchuck, though," he added, laughing at Troy's imaginary drawing.

"Whatever, at least we all know it's a woodchuck," Troy grunted as he unceremoniously chucked it backwards over his shoulder, then scribbled a few more and gave them the same treatment. "That should buy us some time."

"Yeah, but we can't risk Skrawl making it to the portal. He'll either try to get out or trap you two in here," Abed pointed out.

"I have a little bit of a plan," Annie panted. "Do you trust me?" she asked both boys as they all kept running.

Abed and Troy both glanced at the sacred White Lightnin' chalk clutched in Troy's right hand.

"Guys, do you trust me?" she asked again, a little louder this time.

They both nodded and Troy snapped the chalk in half, handing her part of it as Abed groaned, "The sound of chalk breaking always gives ol' Snap the willies."

"Yeah, well, desperate times and all that," Annie answered, nearly out of breath herself as she drew something quickly.

"What's that?"

Annie pretended to yank something off the top of it with her teeth, waited a beat, and threw it. "Smoke grenade. Skrawl can't erase what he can't see," she panted. "Might toss a flash-bang back for good measure, too."

They nearly stopped and then stared at her askance. "Annie, I mean, Penny...the show is rated PG! Those things aren't going to work here!" Troy yelled.

"Oh, so _now_ you tell me there are limits on imagination!" she screamed back before wildly scribbling something else. "Is a…a…Distracto-Bomb 5000 allowed, geniuses?!"

"I don't know what that is, and it sounds like you just made it up, but you might as well try it!" Abed called frantically as he swerved out of the mega-eraser's path and hurdled a half-erased park bench. Annie tossed her creation behind her, and the subsequent, satisfying "KABOOM!" answered her previous question quite nicely.

"Let's hurry up and get out of here," Troy exclaimed as he and Annie hastily scribbled a ladder together before stacking it up against the wall to the portal.

Abed and Troy climbed first, since they were both faster than Annie. Troy scrawled a rough circle on the chalkboard wall to serve as the exit portal while Abed reached back for Annie, tugging her up onto the ledge. "Come on, come on!" Troy urged, grabbing for Abed's hand to swing him forward, toward the portal, before doing the same for Annie. Abed jumped in place to mime going through the portal, and Troy followed suit.

Annie, however, _actually_ jumped forward. She crashed directly into Troy, knocking him into Abed. Troy wound his arms around his best friends as they fell together like he was making a textbook wrap tackle in football to keep Abed from landing too hard on his chest, and Annie toppled over onto both of them.

"End—end simulation." The Dreamatorium reverted to its neutral state as Abed's muffled voice rose from beneath the pile of bodies. It was sort of a reverse group hug. Or maybe "group crush" would be a better description.

"Sor—sorry, guys," Annie groaned. "That was totally my bad."

Troy grunted as Annie picked herself up off him, then answered, "Nah. We forgot to warn you to only jump in place. On the other hand, you were definitely immersed." He crawled away from the bodily wreckage before tapping Abed gently on the shoulder. "You ok, Abed?"

He responded with a thumbs up. "I'm alright. You two would make terrible chiropractors, fyi."

Annie and Troy laughed at that before they both winced. "I think that was the most intense cardio I've gotten in a couple months," Annie admitted. "I'm parched. And kinda disgustingly sweaty."

"That can happen sometimes in the Dreamatorium. I'll get all of us some waters," Troy volunteered as he got to his feet. He reached back down for Abed. "Really, buddy, you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah," Abed nodded once he'd propped himself up in a sitting position against the wall. "Just got the wind knocked out of me. I'll be outta here in a second."

Troy clapped him softly on the shoulder. "Alright, man. Lemme know if you need any Ibuprofen or anything else. Truth be told, I could probably go for a snack."

"Same. That was an intense session."

Troy glanced back at him again and nodded to himself as if he'd done some Abed-specific diagnostics check and received satisfying results. He shut the door nearly all the way to give Abed some privacy without closing the room up entirely.

" _That went better than expected, all things considered. Minus the bodily distress at the end,"_ Abed reflected. _"I'll have to check with Annie to confirm, but it seemed like she really enjoyed the experience."_

He stood up, his knees and ankles crackling like firewood, and was just about to open the door to the Dreamatorium to join the others when its voice whooshed out.

" _Color me impressed. Your Annie Edison's got some moxie."_

Her use of the possessive confused him. _"She's not mine."_

" _Yes, she is. Or, rather, she will be. And, yet, she isn't, and she won't be_. _"_ The voice gave a throaty chuckle, clearly pleased with her call back to and distortion of Troy's earlier description of the room. _"Just think on it. And tell Annie she's more than welcome to come back whenever she pleases. She's earned it."_

" _Thanks, I'm sure she'll appreciate it,"_ Abed thought, even more confused now than he'd been just seconds before. He'd more or less gotten used to the room's occasionally cryptic, borderline obtuse messages, but the lines about Annie being both "his" and "not his," seemingly both in the present and in the future, left him utterly befuddled.

**

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs of that last chat away. Dumbledore's advice to Harry to not dwell on dreams in front of the Mirror of Erised applied well to Abed's bit of imagination-fueled magic, too. After he'd gulped down some water, he turned his attention to Annie (and the plate of Tostitos Scoops and salsa that Troy had put out for everyone). However, he was unsure of exactly where to start. Asking if she liked the Dreamatorium, if she thought he and Troy were insane, if she was alarmed at just how nerdy they were…they all seemed like viable options.

Fortunately, Troy spoke up for him, using his "sideline sports reporter hosting an interview" façade. "So, Annie. You made it through your first-ever Dreamatorium playtime. Congratulations! What are your initial impressions after getting out?"

"Ok, first off," she asked after she chomped on a couple of chips, "how long were we in there?"

Abed consulted his watch. "About half an hour, maybe a bit closer to forty minutes."

"Seriously?" Her jaw dropped. "It somehow felt like we played for hours, but they somehow also went by super quickly."

Abed nodded sagely, while Troy chimed in, "Yeah, when you're in the Dreamatorium, your perception of time gets _fucked._ "

"Well, that's good to know for next time," Annie responded, giggling at the bright, matching grins that broke out on Troy and Abed's faces at her comment.

Troy followed up with, "Committing to a potential second Dreamatorium visit already! So I take it you enjoyed yourself, then?"

She nodded happily. "I mean, at first I felt like…like, what am I _doing_ here, you know? I'm an adult playing pretend. But then I figured, why should I be cynical before giving it a chance?" she went on. "And I'm really glad I did. You two made that a blast, even if the ending got a little dicey. I'm not sure if I wanna revisit ChalkZone in the near future, but…yeah. I'd definitely join you two in there again. It was a lot of fun."

"That would be awesome, Annie," Abed answered warmly. "It was great to have you along."

"And we can have more chill or laid-back adventures, too, if you wanted," Troy added.

"That would be nice, sometimes," Annie agreed. "A mix of high, medium, and low chaos, so to speak. Do you have an estimate of how often your play time is like today versus a more relaxed atmosphere?"

Abed and Troy looked at each other, running a combined mental tally.

"Would you say 70/30 in terms of bonkers adventures compared to casual Dreamatorium sessions?" Troy asked.

"I think that's fair," Abed nodded. "We'd be more than happy to accommodate you whenever you want to join us, though."

Annie grinned. "That'd be fabulous, thanks. Now, um, not to be too gross, but I _need_ to shower after that workout. And since I don't have any clothes here yet, I'm gonna head back to my place."

Even though he was pretty confident that he knew the answer, Abed couldn't help but ask anyway once she'd gathered up her purse and headed to their front door. "Good pilot episode?"

"The best," she replied, flashing another massive smile at both of them. "Seriously…Abed, Troy, thank you so much for inviting me to live with you guys at all, for listening to me and accommodating my needs, for helping me let loose sometimes, for…" she sniffed a tiny bit. "Just for everything, really. Today was amazing, and now, I'm looking forward to living here even more than I already was," she gushed before pulling them both into a tight group hug.

Abed was used to their group hugs lasting for a four or five count. This one lasted for nearly eleven before they all mutually moved to end it.

"Alright," Annie murmured, sounding a tad breathless. "I'll, um, be in touch tomorrow. You know, if I think of any more apartment things."

"Sure." Abed and Troy both nodded at her from the doorway.

She waved at them just before she turned to walk down the hall to the stairs. "Night, guys. Catch you around."

They both lingered at the door, with Abed thinking to himself, _"It'll be nice when she lives here all the time."_

No. Better than nice. Great. Maybe even spectacular.

Troy, as usual, was on his wavelength. "Dude. You remember last night when you asked me if Annie seemed to be getting more awesome lately?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"How'd she get _even more_ _awesome_ than she was when we just saw her on Thursday? That was only two days ago!" Troy exclaimed. "And should we be worried about an exploding apple ego situation like with Jeff at that kid's bar mitzvah party?"

"To answer your first question, I don't know, but I completely agree. And for the second one, I doubt it." Abed glanced back toward the door. "I don't mean to brag, and this is certainly an incomplete hypothesis, but is Annie's increasing awesomeness related to her spending more time with us?"

"There could be other factors or variables in play, but we _did_ spend time with her both on Thursday and today," Troy admitted. "Obviously we know that. Since we were there," he added, shaking his head at his over-explaining. "And I think it might work both ways. I mean, you're easily my best friend, but…I felt more connected to you today, somehow, too." Troy's face darkened as he said quietly, "Like when we were making dinner and you were kind of half-watching while Annie helped me chop up the eggplant." He murmured, almost to himself, "But she was there for that, too. So we were all involved."

"I had a moment kind of like that, myself," Abed responded. "When we were getting the seasonings, I kept trying to think of a dynamic or a group of characters that mirrored how I felt with the three of us cooking together. I couldn't think of any, but it didn't bother me."

"That's good, man," Troy answered. The air between them felt rife with static when Troy asked, "Hey, why are they called eggplants if they don't have anything to do with eggs?"

Abed registered a strange, 50/50 blend of relief and disappointment at the shift in mood after Troy made his joke, and his own corresponding attempt at a "funny" fell a bit flat.

Between his confusion—first at the Dreamatorium's message about Annie, and now this new feeling of something undefined with Troy—and his exhaustion from their earlier adventure, Abed ended up getting ready for bed a bit earlier than usual. He hadn't quite fallen asleep yet, though, when Troy murmured down to him, from the top bunk, "Hey, buddy?"

Abed yawned and replied sleepily, "Yeah, Troy?"

"I just wanted to say, Annie was right. This pilot episode was incredible. Great call on inviting her to the Dreamatorium." He lazily stretched his arm out from the top bunk. "Bunk-bed high-five?"

"Bunk-bed high-five," Abed agreed, pressing his hand softly against Troy's.

Neither one of them said anything about the fact that they kept their hands connected like that for a while before they fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A small tidal wave of Biology projects, 20th Century Youth Culture homework assignments, and business admin studying sessions swept Annie right along to her move-in day with Troy and Abed at the end of September. Thankfully, the tide of projects had receded slightly by the middle of that week, giving her and the boys some time to make piecemeal transfers of her items from the apartment above Dildopolis to apartment 303. And, as they'd both gleefully pointed out to Annie, "all these cardboard boxes will be put to great use in the Dreamatorium once you're settled in!"

"They could also be used for...other adventures," Troy had muttered evasively during one of the mini-moves.

Annie had been tempted to ask for more information, but Abed's look at Troy suggested that whatever he'd referenced was supposed to remain a secret, so she held her tongue.

She secretly thrilled at those tiny moments when she joined them in non-verbal communication. Though Abed and Troy possessed a veritable mind-meld of a mental connection she wouldn't be able to match, Annie felt like the three of them were becoming more and more synchronized as a trio, lately.

Britta confirmed that during the official day of #AnniesMove as she helped gather up the final few boxes to take over to their apartment, commenting, "You know, Annie, I figured I'd have to warn you that living with Troy and Abed might drive you up a wall since they're more laid back and loosey-goosey and you're...you. But it seems like you've actually planned things out pretty well, from what you've all mentioned during the last couple of study group meetings."

"Thanks, Britta!" Annie replied warmly as they loaded a couple of boxes into her car together. "I'm sure we'll have some difficult days here or there, but at least we have some guidelines that we all agreed on. I'm trying to be more flexible and understanding of how they live as we establish a new routine," she mentioned as they climbed the steps back to her apartment, "and the boys are doing the same for me, too."

And, just after she said that, they walked in on Troy and Abed using unopened rolls of paper towels and a wad of bubble wrap to play a makeshift game of baseball.

Britta grinned. "You were saying?"

"Ok, so it's still a work in progress, sometimes," Annie defended them with surprising patience as Britta cracked up.

Fortunately, the boys got back to work with loading vehicles up with the final few boxes. Annie was taking a break to grab a drink of water and a Granola bar when Shirley came up to her.

"Hey, An-nie!" she greeted. "Looks like all your stuff is just about moved out. Are you excited to be getting officially settled in with Abed and Troy?"

"Oh, absolutely," she affirmed. "I'm not gonna miss the state-of-the-art utilities here," she joked, gesturing toward the ancient oversized fridge and the half-fried power outlets, "or the general ambience of the neighborhood." She nodded out the living room window to the hulking, neon-yellow Dildopolis sign.

"Good, that's nice," Shirley cooed before muttering, with the air of a bad cop conducting an interrogation, "But you're not gonna be _too_ excited about moving in with two men, are you?"

Annie's nose wrinkled in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Shirley's eyes narrowed. "I've seen things. On TV. On _Friends._ You have men and women living in close quarters-not even in the same apartment, just around the same apartment building! And then they're all getting drunk on Wednesdays and shacking up on Fridays and it's a right mess. I just don't want you to go down that path, Annie."

Annie bit the inside of her cheeks for a second to avoid busting out laughing at Shirley's dire prognostication. "That's...that's not gonna happen," she managed to choke out, gulping down some water to make a reasonable excuse for her coughing fit. "I appreciate your concern, Shirley, but, I mean, it's Troy and Abed. They're going to be living in a _blanket fort_ ," she stressed. "I think it's safe to say there's a giant, mutual lack of interest in doing anything remotely sexual with each other."

"Well, alright, then," Shirley nodded in apparent approval of Annie's response. After she made one last sweep of her old apartment, Annie left the key on the kitchen counter and thought, _"Goodbye, shitty apartment. Goodbye, Dildopolis. I won't miss you at all."_

With that, she trotted downstairs and out the forever-broken front door, eager to drive over to her new home with her best friends and the study group, minus Jeff, in tow.

**

"Hey, Annie! Mind if I hitch a ride with you?" Britta cajoled her as she approached her car.

She frowned. "There's not a ton of space left in here, Britta."

She laughed airily before giving Annie a clandestine, pleading look. "Oh, I'm sure I can make room. After following Radiohead on tour, I'm pretty comfortable with being a passenger in cramped vehicles."

Annie shrugged uncertainly. "If you're ok with it, then, come on in." She called back to Shirley, Troy, and Abed, "See you all in a bit!"

Britta gave a sigh of relief after wedging herself into the front passenger seat with a garbage bag of winter clothes on her lap. "Thank you for saving me from another twenty minutes of Shirley shoving Christianity down my throat."

"No problem," Annie laughed. "Just before we left, she sort of cornered me about, um, making sure our place doesn't turn into a den of sin because we'll be unable to control our 'urges.'"

Britta gave a snort of laughter at Annie's air quotes and scoffed, "That's ridiculous."

Annie was on the verge of replying, "I know," because thinking of either Troy or Abed in that light was patently absurd. However, Britta tacked on an addendum to her sentence. "I mean, you're all adults. As long as there's enthusiastic consent, hooking up with your roommates doesn't damn you to hellfire. Believe me, I've been there, done that in a past life."

"Britta!" Annie gasped.

"What?" she protested. "I'm not saying that _you're_ goingto do that. Just that if you did, like, you all shouldn't be ostracized or shamed for it," she continued earnestly. "This isn't Ye Olden Times in the Bible, Annie. And there was plenty of messed-up sex stuff back in the days of the Roman empire. Those palace orgies would make hooking up with one or both of your roommates look positively tame in comparison."

Annie shook her head and tightened her grip on the steering wheel after gaping at Britta for a second. "I appreciate your open-mindedness, but...just no. No way would anything raunchy would happen between us," Annie commented firmly. "They're-they're my boys."

Britta smirked and raised an eyebrow at that. "They're _your_ boys, are they?"

"Oh, shut up, it's not like that," Annie huffed. "They sometimes call me 'their' Annie, it doesn't mean anything important."

"Au contraire. Words always mean something, my friend," Britta corrected her. "And there's an awful lot of possessiveness going around with you three."

Annie groaned and accelerated through the next green light with a bit more horsepower than was absolutely necessary. "It's not romantic or sexual, it just means we're there for each other, okay?" she insisted.

Britta softened at that. "Okay, I got it. All jokes aside, it's obvious the three of you all care for each other a lot. And I'm proud of all of you for your willingness to compromise on creating your new home."

"Well, thank you for that," Annie replied. "It means a lot, coming from you."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't go telling everyone I have a little bit of a soft spot for you three," Britta responded brusquely to hide her sentimental side. "I've already lost a ton of cool girl cred since I started at Greendale, so there's not much to spare anymore."

Though Annie felt extremely confident in her assertions to Britta regarding the possessive labels she and the boys sometimes used for each other, something in her stomach fluttered as she mentally catalogued just how often they'd been dropping them in conversation recently.

" _It's even come up in the group chat sometimes,"_ she realized, like yesterday's text from Troy: _"Roughly 16 hours til our Annie is officially a roommate at La Casa de Trobed!"_

And then Abed had chimed in, _"With Annie joining us, we should update the apartment name for roughly equal representation of all parties. All in favor of changing 303's title to La Casa de Trobedison?"_

She'd felt giddy when she'd texted over an "applause" emoji to join Troy and Abed's "100" and "thumbs up" emojis.

" _Okay, so maybe Britta has a point, and our little brand of possessiveness goes beyond what's considered normal for a trio of friends,"_ Annie reflected. _"But it makes me feel seen, and respected, and appreciated, which is pretty damn great. And we're all pretty far from normal anyway."_

She smiled to herself as she pulled into the parking lot behind the building and brushed away Britta's thoughts as she parked and gathered the first bundle of boxes to take up.

_"Because there's no way I'm into Troy and/or Abed. Right? Right,"_ Annie reassured herself.

With everyone's help, Annie got her room squared away surprisingly quickly. The biggest challenge had been getting her bed into the apartment, but between herself, Abed, Britta, and Jeff (when he arrived), they managed it with only a few breaks for yelling and swearing.

"Wait," Annie asked once they'd gotten all of her furniture into her room, "weren't you sick, Jeff?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I wasn't. I made up being sick to get out of helping, but I felt guilty about it." He held up the last box he'd retrieved from his Lexus, a variety twelve pack of Sierra Nevada. "Brought some apology slash welcome Annie to the apartment beers."

"Oh, it's fine, we all forgive you," Shirley assured him quickly.

"As long as you're willing to chip in a couple bucks for some pizza, too," Abed piped up.

He perked up at Shirley's response. "Really? And yeah, more than happy to do that, Abed."

"We're kind people, dude, don't sweat it," Britta commented with a smirk before asking, "Jeff, did you know that when it snows, my eyes become large?"

He frowned at her odd question before the rest of them sang mockingly, "And the light that you shine can be seen...baby!"

Jeff's frown deepened as he asked, disbelievingly, "He tweeted it?" He snatched his phone out of his pocket, opened up Twitter, and lamented, head thrown back in agony, _"He tweeted it!"_

Abed reprimanded him playfully, saying, "Well, Jeff, that's what you get for being…" he paused dramatically and, though she couldn't say how, Annie just _knew_ he was going to make a housewarming party reference.

"A conniving sonuvabitch!" she and Abed proclaimed simultaneously.

Everyone cracked up at that, even Jeff, as Britta yelled, "Ha, got him!"

Abed and Troy turned back to Annie in unison, surveying her with great pride for a second. She could almost feel herself glowing as Troy swept his hand toward her with a regal flourish. "And _that_ , ladies and gentlemen, is how you cement your status as an official roommate at La Casa de Trobedison."

Abed added, with the air of a refined diplomat, "Welcome, Miss Edison. We're delighted to have you here."

They each extended their right hand out, and she happily gave both of them hearty handshakes in return before stepping forward for a group hug that said more than she could at the moment.

**

Before the pizza arrived, Shirley, Jeff, and Annie made decent progress on getting some of her kitchen supplies organized while Britta, surprisingly, assisted Abed and Troy with transforming their blanket fort into a functioning bedroom.

"It's roomier than you'd think in there," she marveled when they elected Shirley for pizza retrieval duty (without creating any more timelines in this particular instance).

"Abed and Troy _are_ expert engineers," Annie reminded her, grinning when they returned her compliment with matching finger guns.

As they dug into the food, Troy muttered, after swallowing a mouthful of pizza, "Hey, Jeff, forgot to say earlier: thanks for bringing over the beers. Now we can save our wine for future shenanigans."

"Sure thing. You know, I'm surprised you two enjoy wine so much," Jeff commented. "It's usually more of an acquired, refined taste. At your age," he shuddered involuntarily at that, "I generally preferred beer."

"Perhaps we're simply more sophisticated," Abed replied with a faux-haughty sniff as Troy extended his pinkie away from his beer bottle to take a dainty sip.

"Alright, come on, now," Jeff chuckled. "I've totally deserved all the jokes today, but I can't let that one slide. You're both living in a blanket fort, for crying out loud. And Troy, you regularly call wine no-no juice."

"Well, be that as it may, we have a sophistication test to determine just who is the classiest fellow at the table," Troy bragged. He turned and nodded to his best friend. "Abed."

"Thank you, good sir. Now, Jeffrey, were I to ask you to turn laser tag into a high-society affair, how would you respond?" Abed steepled his long fingers over the bridge of his nose.

Jeff snorted. "Laser tag? I'd just suggest we not play laser tag because I'd rather not deal with a bunch of screaming teenage kids. Duh-doy."

Abed and Troy glanced at each other incredulously before shaking their heads. "Oh, he's serious!" Troy exclaimed before cutting loose a hearty guffaw.

"Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey," Abed tutted. "You're missing a very obvious answer here, amigo."

The way they adapt to roles has become one of Annie's favorite parts of getting to know Abed and Troy better, seeing how they slip in and out of characters and put on certain facades without ever completely losing their unique personalities.

Jeff rolled his eyes at the boys, took a long gulp of beer, and gestured toward Abed. "Go ahead, then, oh cultured one. Enlighten me," he drawled.

Abed spread his hands wide, as if inviting Jeff to appreciate his forthcoming answer. "I'd be delighted. You simply put on sport coats and-ta da-you've transformed laser tag into blazer tag!"

"Between having guns and fancy clothes, you're at least 25% of the way to making a summer blockbuster spy movie," Troy concluded.

"And what would that movie be with you two starring as the lead characters? Mr. and Mr. Smith?" Jeff wisecracked.

"You joke, but the standard action or espionage film _does_ contain heavy doses of male bonding and fraternization," Abed stated. "It would be an interesting subversion of the genre to include those staple elements as part of a romantic relationship between two male leads. But I don't think we'd go in that direction, exactly."

He looked down thoughtfully at his pizza slice for a moment before turning to Troy. "When I'm in the mood for one, I can really enjoy watching buddy action films with dynamic duos. But I'd probably prefer being part of a trio if I was actually playing a character in such a flick. That way, I could slide into the background sometimes rather than being at the forefront of the entire film."

Annie had been debating whether she wanted another beer at the moment-she was leaning toward getting a water, instead-but Abed's use of the word "trio" piqued her curiosity, and she turned her attention toward his conversation with Troy.

"I think I'd say the same," Troy agreed. "There'd still be opportunities for duos within the trio to work together, but it would also create new dynamics and could present fresh ideas in an oversaturated movie market."

Annie felt her pulse quicken, and she couldn't put her finger on why. _"Are they...are they talking about us?"_ she wondered. _"About me, in a roundabout way? In a sort of code?"_

"In that case, we'd be better off pursuing a Get Smart style spy movie," Abed declared. "Albeit a less slapstick version. Between Max, the Chief, and 99, there would be plenty of options for three characters to share a spotlight."

It all happened in about a five second span-Abed and Troy nodding to each other, and then each glancing at Annie, one at a time. But she somehow knew exactly what they were asking, could almost hear their voices in her head: _"Wanna play Get Smart in a future Dreamatorium adventure?"_

She tilted her head up in a tiny nod to each of them, in quick succession, in silent affirmation of their unspoken question.

For a second, she wasn't sure if they were all on the same page, but then Abed muttered, "Cool. Cool cool cool" to himself, but just loudly enough for his roommates to hear. It took everything Annie had to restrain a suspiciously massive grin from breaking out across her face.

Still, some modicum of satisfaction must have flashed for a moment, because Shirley looked over at her. "What are you smiling at, An-nie?"

She bought herself a second by finishing off her beer before giving a noncommittal shrug. "Oh, you know, I'm just happy that my move over was easier than I thought it might've been."

" _And that I just had my first successful and extended non-verbal conversation with the boys. On day one of living here!"_ she thought excitedly as she grabbed another slice of pizza.

**

After dinner, Shirley, Jeff, and Britta all cleared out, with the latter two heading to the Red Door/L Street to keep the party going for a little bit longer. Annie settled on the couch once everyone had left and mentioned to Abed and Troy, "It's a little strange to still be here, since I normally would've left with everyone else. But it's a good strange."

"Good strange is generally the vibe we've cultivated here so far, so that's good," Troy smiled. "Speaking of strange...I actually have kind of a homework question to bring up?"

Annie gasped. "That's not strange, that's downright weird."

Abed pressed the back of his hand to Troy's forehead. "You don't seem to be running a fever or anything, so it's not illness-related. Have you been secretly replaced by a humanoid Blorgon?"

"No. Though I suppose that's what a humanoid Blorgon would say," Troy responded. "Anyway, I was thinking. You know how Dr. McAndrews wants us to attend two uniquely American events for extra credit in Youth Culture?"

Annie and Abed nodded; though the class was more challenging than others they'd had, their professor had made the extra credit a freebie, more or less, to appease the Dean. So it went in the strange academic world of Greendale Community College.

"Well, for the first one, what if you two came and watched the Greendale Gators game next Saturday?" Troy suggested. "It starts at 9:30, and we're playing at the school's field, so it's close by. Abed, you could get a few pictures of it to show we were there. You two wouldn't even have to stay for the whole thing if you didn't want to."

"Youth football is very much an American tradition," Abed admitted. "Annie, what are you thinking?"

She kind of wanted to say no to Troy's suggestion, given that her memories of high school football included "highlights" like getting ditched at Taco Bell by the rest of the cheer squad, but Troy looked eager to share this experience with them. _"It could be interesting to see how he acts as a coach,"_ Annie reasoned. _"And I'll have Abed there with me if I get bored."_

"I'm in for part of it," she agreed. "I checked my work schedule for next week earlier, and my shift next Saturday starts at 12, so I can't stay the whole time."

"Hey, whatever support you can lend, we're happy to have," Troy grinned.

"I don't think I'm really doing anything that day. Would you mind if I got a ride home with you after the game, Troy?" Abed asked.

"Not at all, buddy," Troy answered brightly. "Alright, now that that's settled, we've got to give you a proper welcome to Casa Trobedison, Annie. And a proper welcome involves no-no juice."

"Nothing says welcome to a college apartment like your wine bottle having a twist off cap," Annie joked as Abed retrieved three glasses and Troy poured out a serving for each of them. They clinked their glasses together, and Annie enjoyed a lengthy sip of Barefoot Red Moscato before asking, "So what's a typical Saturday night in apartment 303 like?"

"We have a few sort of standard activities," Abed explained. "If we're doing stuff together, it's usually a mix of playing video games or board games, watching TV, and hanging out in the Dreamatorium. If we feel like doing our own thing, sometimes I'll be working on film projects or Troy will be putting puzzles together."

Troy added, "As our new roommate, you obviously get first pick of what we do tonight."

"Hmm…" Annie mulled over her options. "I think I'm a bit too tired for the Dreamatorium tonight, and I'm not really feeling Inspector Spacetime or Cougar Town. What video game options do you have?"

"We've got some classics on the Nintendo 64-Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Goldeneye, Zelda," Abed ticked off on his fingers. "Along with newer games on the Xbox 360, mostly falling into the genres of action or adventure RPGs, sports titles, and first person shooters with gratuitous violence."

"Let's go with Mario Kart," she decided, wanting to at least start with a game that included all of them.

"Sure," they agreed, and then Troy went, "Cheers, buddy," and clinked glasses with Abed before they both gulped down more wine.

She frowned. "Is that a 'first video game played by Annie' cheers?"

"No," Abed replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before going to retrieve the Moscato. "We want to put ourselves at a bit of a disadvantage by drinking more to make the game fairer for you."

Annie scoffed and moved from the couch to help Troy untangle the controllers. "I don't need your pity."

Troy shrugged as he blew into the bottom of the Mario Kart 64 cartridge. "It's your character's funeral, then."

"It can't be _that_ hard to play a driving game, even for a total noob like me," Annie argued.

**Eight Minutes Later**

"Those fucking bastard game designers say this is for _kids?!_ " Annie screeched as Yoshi, yet again, tumbled into the ocean at Koopa Troopa Beach; it was the third time in a row she'd failed to clear a jump with him.

Troy and Abed collapsed against each other on the couch, nearly shaking with laughter at their new roommate's indignant rage.

"You know, we _did_ try to warn you," Troy reminded her annoyingly as he recovered and steered Bowser around a banana that Abed had just tossed out.

"We may need to lower our expectations for her further," Abed murmured, deep in concentration as he piloted Luigi around the course's final turn and barely edged Troy out for the victory.

"What, because I'm a _girl_ and we're not supposed to be good at video games?" Annie demanded before taking another sip of wine.

"Whoa, there. No way, we're not Pierce," Troy placated her. "We're not saying you're bad at this game because you're a girl, we're saying you're bad at it because you have no practice," he observed, and Abed raised a pertinent follow-up question. "When was the last time you played video games, Annie?"

"Umm…" she cast around in her head for when that might have been. "Probably in high school?" She vaguely recalled playing a Pokemon game on one of her cousins' consoles around Hanukkah. "But I still feel like I shouldn't be _this_ bad," she complained, groaning as the fat, red letters next to Yoshi's name-DNF-glowed brightly on the screen, mocking her once again.

"Well, older games are much less accommodating for new players," Abed told her. "Maybe we can try and teach you some tricks after I make some popcorn."

"I think you'd be able to assist Annie better for this game," Troy told him. "You're the more technically skilled driver out of the two of us."

Abed nodded in appreciation of the compliment before getting off the couch and making his way to the kitchen.

"What?" Annie huffed as Troy gave her a bemused look.

"It's just...I should've expected you'd want to be, like, the queen of Mario Kart, even though that's kinda impossible when you have no recent video game experience. Don't know how I forgot how driven you are to win at almost everything. It's admirable, don't get me wrong," he added. "But also pretty funny when it involves a green dinosaur who can shoot eggs out of his butt."

"Well...thank you? I think?" Annie answered uncertainly.

"It was a compliment. Just didn't come out great," Troy apologized. Turning serious for a moment, he remarked softly, "I was also thinking, when you mentioned high school...I don't know if I ever told you I was sorry for being such a jerk all the time back then, but. I am. I had a lot of growing up to do, and I think I've succeeded at least a little at it since."

"You have, Troy," Annie reassured him. "And thanks." She laughed suddenly, commenting, "It's kinda funny to think about us ending up here together. I mean, what would old T-Bone Barnes say about that?" she joked.

Troy gave a dismissive wave. "I don't care, honestly. High school me was a jackass. And I know we've told you a lot, but…" he hesitated. "I'm glad you're living with us, Annie. It's nice to have another really good friend in the apartment, you know? Plus cutting down on our rent doesn't hurt."

"Ye-yeah," Annie stuttered, her response half-caught in her throat at Troy's unexpected differentiation of "we" vs. "I."

" _Well, he and Abed_ _are_ _their own people, even if they spend nearly all their time together and get along great most of the time. I shouldn't jam them together and remove their individuality just because they're best friends,"_ Annie concluded. She took a drink of her wine to settle herself and finished her answer. "Believe me, I'm thrilled to be here, too. Both because I'm living with you guys and because there's no threat of anyone announcing that vibrators are buy one get one half off at 2 AM."

"So you're saying us investing in a nighttime PA system won't make you feel more at home?" Troy deadpanned, and Annie nearly did a spit take at the joke.

"What's so funny?" Abed inquired as he came back into the living room, carrying his standard oversized bowl of popcorn for sharing.

"Just thinking about some of the things I won't miss at Dildopolis," she chuckled as all three of them took a break from games to enjoy some snacking.

**

Abed fixed Annie with a clear-eyed gaze afterwards. "Still want me to help you try your hand at Mario Kart?"

"Just saying, I'd trust his tutelage. Dude is a Mario Kart master," Troy noted.

Annie checked the time-it was only 9:30 or so, and she was on the closing produce shift at Whole Foods tomorrow, so she could definitely afford to stay up a while longer. "Sure," she declared.

Troy got up, allowing Abed to take the spot next to Annie on the couch. Abed quickly exited out of their game and opened up practice mode for her.

After observing her driving or a couple of minutes, Abed spoke up. "Your turns are a bit erratic, which is where you're losing speed. And you're not getting the drift boost."

Annie gritted her teeth. While she'd asked for Abed's help, she also should've known he wouldn't deliver it in the most tactful of ways. "Well, I'm trying to get it."

He thought for a minute before asking, "Do you mind if I show you?"

She paused her session and held the controller out toward him. "If you think it'll help."

He shook his head. "No. I mean, yes, it will, but no, that's not how I wanted to show you. Just go back to playing for a second."

Annie let out a frustrated sigh at his communication, or lack thereof, and unpaused the game, continuing to drive around the track when Abed reached his right arm around hers, rested his hands over hers on the controller, and started guiding her moves.

"This way, you can get a better sense for how it feels when you're driving smoothly," he informed her with an almost clinical air, as if he was a bored, fifty-something year-old driving instructor and she was one of twenty-eight students he was teaching over the summer.

"Sure," Annie breathed, trying to not react to the slight scent of wine on his breath or the comfortable feel of how he manipulated her fingers with light, barely-there touches.

" _This is no big deal, Annie,"_ she told herself. _"This is just how Abed would think to help you get better at Mario Kart,"_ now there's a sentence she never thought she'd say, _"and it doesn't mean anything. Even though if any other guy was doing this, you'd think they were smooth as hell_ _and were coming on to you. But this is Abed. So that is definitely, 100% not happening. And besides,"_ she remembered, _"I was doing something like this with Troy, helping him chop up the eggplant and I was kind of holding his hand. And it was totally friendly affection, nothing more."_

She nodded to confirm that story to herself, and refocused on the screen, marveling at how much more agile Yoshi looked under Abed's guidance. When she glanced down a couple of minutes later, though, Abed's thumbs had moved off of hers, and he was simply holding the joystick with her, rather than helping her control her kart at all.

"I'm-I'm doing this now?" she stammered in confusion.

Abed smiled softly. "It's like getting a kid to ride a bike. Gotta know when to let them take off on their own."

"I'm doing this now!" Annie yelled in jubilation as she weaved around two obstacles and executed a perfect drift turn onto a speed boost ramp, with Troy applauding her moves. After deftly dodging a Chain Chomp, she warned them, wearing a massive, proud grin, "You two are _so_ going down once I get some more practice in."

Abed and Troy cracked up at that, with Troy nudging Abed playfully in the ribs before laughing, "Oh, listen to that brash confidence!"

"She is _definitely_ speaking out of pocket," Abed predicted.

"But don't worry, we'll let you have this little victory," Troy rejoined. "We don't want to crush our Annie's spirit too much on her first day here, do we, Abed?"

"No, that just wouldn't do, Troy," Abed agreed, and Annie felt a rush of affection for both of them as Yoshi motored across the finish line on the practice level.

That rush of affection remained there until she decided to call it a night, and Annie tripped and fell into a comforting realization just before she drifted off to sleep.

" _This isn't just a college apartment. This is home."_


	5. Chapter 5

Over the course of the week, Troy was pleasantly surprised at how quickly he and Abed adapted to having Annie living with them. That's not to say it was a flawless transition, though. On Wednesday morning, she threatened both him and Abed with significant bodily harm after finding they'd used up all the hot water during their showers, and they were still getting accustomed to consistently making actual meals during the school week. But for the most part, gaining her as a roommate was enjoyable.

Aside from the minor fact that Annie's type A academic drive didn't have an automatic off switch once Friday afternoons rolled around.

"Come on, guys!" she urged them from her usual homework spot at the dining room table, armed with her standard study weapons: her laptop, notebooks, pens, and highlighters. "Troy, I _know_ you've got an Old English test coming up, and Abed, you said you wanted to make more flash cards for Bio. And besides, if you get work done now, that's less to be done over the weekend and we'll have more free time for activities."

"Except it already _is_ the weekend. Right now," Troy grumbled. "And I want to review some more of our film before the game tomorrow."

"I agree, Friday after the last class ends counts as the weekend," Abed replied. "Is there any particular reason you're channeling Hermione Granger more than usual, Annie?"

"No! Why would there be?" she responded a touch indignantly.

Troy winced on her behalf and thought, _"Inviting Abed to conduct behavior analysis...rookie mistake."_

Abed quickly answered, "You first said if _you_ get more work done now, referencing us," he pointed at himself and Troy, "but then ended your sentence by saying _we'll_ have more free time for activities, including yourself. I'd guess there's a reason for the discrepancy and you subconsciously want to share why you're valuing your free time."

Troy tried to follow Abed's line of reasoning, but it involved a box-step or two, and he's never been all that good at dancing, so he just waited to see what happened.

Annie blushed and glared at Abed for a second before muttering, "Well, if you _must_ know…"

"I don't," Abed interrupted, "but you're clearly going full steam ahead for this, now, so I'll get out of your way."

Annie gave a semi-frustrated sigh and revealed, with a modest grin, "I've got an ice cream date on Sunday with one of my business admin classmates."

"Interesting," Abed commented. "Are they male or female? And what prompted this?"

"It's…" Annie gave her head a shake. "He's a guy. Derek Wolfe. And him asking me to go for ice cream is what prompted this."

"So I'd assume you have some type of interest in this Derek character, then?" Abed inquired.

Annie rolled her eyes. "I mean, he seems nice enough. We've worked together on a couple of projects. He's kinda cute. Can't a girl just go on a casual afternoon date for ice cream without playing twenty questions, Abed?"

"Don't answer that," Troy interrupted him softly, clasping his fingers gently over Abed's wrist; he'd been about to respond to a mostly rhetorical, very much irritated question with a finger point and another inquiry, and Troy figured Annie would appreciate the break in the interrogation. He shot her a small smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, for some reason. "Uh, congrats, I guess? Hope it goes well."

"Thanks, Troy." She smiled back, but her smile, too, fell quickly.

" _Eh, that's probably just because she's doing homework_ ," he guessed. More to patch over the awkwardness than anything else, he retrieved his Old English notebook from his backpack, settled in at the dining room table, and got to reviewing translations. Abed followed suit, lugging over his backpack and pulling out his Bio book.

"Annie?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she responded a bit coldly, not looking up from her 20th Century Youth Culture notes.

"Would you mind giving me some flash cards?"

She yanked them free from her folder with a bit of extra force and passed them over.

After they spent about ten minutes working in a semi-icy silence, Abed spoke up again. "Running with the Hermione Granger comparison from earlier. I hope this Derek guy is more of a Bill Weasley than a Cormac McLaggen. You deserve someone who treats you as well as Bill treats Fleur."

Annie responded to that with a genuine smile. "Thank you for that, Abed. We'll see. I'd settle for him being not-Cormac to start."

It's these sort of weird moments—the references that he doesn't get, the shared communication that he's practically intruding on, at times—that make Troy feel as if he's lost at sea, stranded somewhere between floating peacefully on the ocean's surface and drowning in its depths, depending on what Abed and Annie are discussing.

On one hand, he _likes_ that Abed and Annie have gotten on so well. He maybe even loves it—after all, they're his two best friends. It would be a world-class bummer if they butted heads and he felt like he had to hang out with them one at a time when they're all home.

On the other hand, Troy sometimes felt a touch locked out, excluded, when their conversations turned in directions that he couldn't always track, and he was scrabbling for an opening when he commented, guessing a bit desperately based on context clues, "You shouldn't. Um, have to."

" _What the hell is wrong with me?"_ he thought for a second as his roommates regarded him with confusion (ok, that wasn't super unusual with Annie, but it was a major rarity with Abed) before he clarified, "You shouldn't have to settle for anyone."

The smile Annie gave him was a nearly perfect match of the one she'd flashed for Abed just a minute before. So, too, was her response: "Thank you, Troy. I sometimes need to hear that reminder."

Her answer settled a strange churning in Troy's gut, as if some delicate equilibrium had been restored. Not wanting to disturb it, he continued studying semi-diligently for longer than he would have otherwise, as did Abed. And he found, as he completed his first run-through of Old English studying and turned his attention to reviewing his notes on Beowulf, that maybe Annie's definition of when weekends started wasn't so bad, after all.

Following dinner—honey garlic shrimp with lo mein noodles—Troy sequestered himself in his bed with his laptop and headphones to analyze the Gators' film from their past two games. They'd split them and were sitting at 2-2 on the season overall. With only four games remaining in the season, tomorrow's contest would go a long way in determining whether or not they made the league's four-team playoff.

He conducted his standard film study, first watching examples of offensive plays in different areas of the field at full speed and then rewinding and slowing them down to take notes, quickly filling up a couple of pages with observations. One of his biggest concerns was that the team's outside run game had lost effectiveness after being a big source of chunk yardage during the first couple of weeks. They'd been practicing a play Troy had designed as a complement to their outside zone runs, and he'd just jotted down, "PA Toss Sweep: needs time to develop, but has potential for big yards. Call between opponent's 40 and 30?" when he heard the distinctive rustling of the blanket entrance being moved aside. Abed poked his head in and looked up.

Troy took off his headphones and paused the video clip he was reviewing. "What is it, buddy?"

"Annie and I have something to show you," he answered simply.

Troy climbed down from the top bunk—even with all the blankets they'd strewn across the floor, jumping could easily damage the structural integrity of the fort, and the hardwood underneath wasn't particularly forgiving on landing from significant heights, anyway.

Abed led him to the table, upon which was resting a large sign, recycled from one of Annie's cardboard boxes, that read, "GO, GO, GREENDALE GATORS!" in green and black paint, with some restrained use of glitter, along with a smaller "Go Troy!" written near the bottom.

"We know you're not on the team, per se, and Annie mentioned it could be construed as odd by overzealous football parents to be cheering for a coach," Abed explained. "But you're still part of the team, just as much as the players, so I wanted to add your name specifically. Plus, I read that making signs is a standard part of attending football games, but we didn't want to steal a picket fence. Seemed like a bit of a hassle."

"It's not too much, is it?" Annie asked anxiously. "I'd been thinking, you know, when I was on the debate team our freshman year, it would've been nice to have a show of support like this. But if you think it's lame, we can totally just leave it here—"

"It's great," Troy replied softly, putting his hands up to quiet Annie's rambling. "Reminds me of how my mom would make signs to take to my games when I was a kid, actually. I was embarrassed about them at the time, of course, but I realized later that she put a lot of time into it. So, thanks."

They've all developed something of a sixth sense for when to initiate group hugs, even Abed, and this moment is one of them.

They've also gotten a little bit worse at ending them in a timely fashion, but with Abed and Annie's arms wrapped around him, Troy doesn't really mind that part.

**

The next morning, Troy woke up a few minutes before 7:30, silenced his alarm before it went off, and took a speed shower (two minutes and twenty three seconds, just under a half-minute off his personal record). Then, threw on his Greendale Gators sweatshirt (the hoodie is toastier, but he'll never rock the Bill Belichick look on the sidelines because he, like any good football fan outside of Massachusetts, hates the Patriots), along with black jeans and sneakers. He grabbed a sesame seed bagel, slathered some butter on it, and was just about to leave when some urge called him back.

He carefully tore a scrap piece of paper out of Abed's Bio notebook and quickly scribbled, _I had to leave early, just wanted to say thanks again for agreeing to come to the game. It'll be nice to have a couple friendly faces in the stands. By the way, dress warm, it might be a little chilly today. -T_

He's not sure what compelled him to do it—he and Abed have never really left notes for each other, and Troy supposed he could have just texted him and Annie, but he didn't want to risk waking them up. Plus, Troy has seen all the yellow sticky tabs that riddle Annie's planners. Leaving a note felt like an Annie thing to do, a little way to speak her language, like how he and Abed have learned to do with each other over the past few years.

Once he arrived at the field, Troy focused on the Gators' offensive game plan, going over it with the offensive coordinator and the head coach. Their team had a great, if somewhat mercurial quarterback, a few "jack of all trades, master of none" types at running back and wide receiver, and a handful of raw athletes who were still developing their football skills as RB/WR hybrids and mostly contributed on special teams or gadget plays. While the Gators' collection of middle school players couldn't go toe-to-toe with other teams in the Denver Youth Football League in terms of top-end talent, they could win out on depth.

The game started off slowly, with both teams trading touchdowns in the first quarter. The second quarter largely featured a mix of offensive miscues and strong defensive play. It seemed as if the Gators would take the lead with about a minute to go in the first half, as they drove down to the Bears' ten yard line, but Josh Fitzpatrick's pass bounced off the hands of Benny Rodriguez, one of the team's newer wide receivers, and was intercepted at the four yard line. Josh stomped off the field with the rest of the offense and tossed his helmet on the bench once he'd gotten back to the sidelines.

As the team's unofficial QB coach, Troy figured he should help the kid cool off before their head coach, Bill Adkins, came over. Bill took none too kindly to "divas," as he called them.

"Hey, Josh." Troy knelt down to meet his eyes. Not getting an immediate response, he snapped his fingers and commanded, "Hey, eye contact, please." Josh finally looked up. "Look, man, I know you're frustrated," Troy commiserated.

"That should've been a touchdown," Josh muttered.

"Well, unfortunately, it wasn't," Troy answered, in as understanding a voice as he could muster. "And I know you just want to win. Really badly. I get that. One of my best friends is super driven, kinda like you, too. It's an admirable trait. But you've also gotta realize...the rest of the offense is gonna follow your lead. You set the tone. And the tenets behind our team's tone are…?"

"Respect, accountability, and brotherhood," Josh mumbled listlessly.

" _Well, at least I got a response,"_ Troy thought. He nodded back to the QB. "Exactly. And part of those values involves recognizing that mistakes are part of the game, moving on from them, and getting better. We all screw up sometimes. I can't even tell you the number of dumb throws I made when I played. And I'm sure there are some decisions you want to have back."

"Yeah, that's true," Josh admitted, a little more life returning to his voice.

He paused as the Gator contingency gave a roar; a linebacker had blitzed and sacked the Bears' QB in the end zone for a safety.

Troy looked back at Josh. "Looks like you're getting the ball back, buddy. Whatcha gonna do?"

"Lead our team, execute, and put points on the board," Josh answered confidently.

Troy smiled and offered him a fist bump. "There we go. Get to work, man."

The Gators' ensuing kick-off return gave them decent field position, and they made it to the opponent's 36-yard line with 30 seconds left in the half when they burned their first timeout.

"Hey, Barnes," Coach Adkins called to him.

"Yes, Coach?"

Bill offered him a rare smile. "Think we're in a decent spot to call that PA Toss Sweep you installed?"

Troy nodded, needing a second before finding his voice. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do it."

The offensive coordinator relayed the play to the team, and Troy was pleased to see Josh pull Benny Rodriguez, the first option on the play, to the side to murmur, "You got this, ok? You can fly. You're gonna burn your man deep."

Benny nodded as they all trotted back out to the field and got lined up in an I-formation.

Just after the snap, Troy thought for a second that they'd accidentally called a run. Josh sold the play-action with a hard fake toss, but it put him in danger, as a safety blitzed from the quarterback's blind-side.

" _At least we still have two timeouts,"_ Troy thought glumly, figuring a sack was imminent.

However, Josh must've heard the safety charging in or saw the opponent in his peripherals, because he stopped hard and made a slick spin move to his left to leave the defender grasping at air, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Troy checked out the route progressions and saw Benny plant his foot in the ground to break off his horizontal crossing route and cut upfield as Josh rolled to his right, out of the pocket, just like they'd drawn it up in practice. As Benny dug deep to accelerate away from the defender, he flashed a hand in the air.

" _C'mon, man,"_ Troy thought, as Josh looked like he was going to scramble. _"Trust him. Throw it."_

As if he heard, Josh gathered his feet under him and launched the ball deep with a flick of the wrist.

For a second, Troy worried it would be overthrown. But Benny kept his head down, running hard until, late in his route, he tracked the ball over his shoulder and caught it with his arms at full extension. He stumbled inside the two yard line, but managed to keep his balance just long enough to half-dive, half-somersault into the end zone.

"Let's go!" Troy shouted as the Gators' bench erupted in cheers. He couldn't say what his favorite part of the celebration sequence was: the other coaches high-fiving him for the play design; seeing Benny's glee when he got up and spiked the football after scoring his first touchdown of the year; watching Josh sprint down the field like his hair was on fire to give his wideout a leaping hip bump in the end zone; spotting his own dad in the stands, clapping and whistling the way he had when Troy was the one making plays on the field; or noticing Abed and Annie on the other side of the field, celebrating, too, Annie leaping up and down with their homemade sign clutched over her head in her hands while Abed stood and clapped with a bemused look on his face, as if he was happy to cheer even if he didn't understand exactly what was happening.

**

The touchdown strike and subsequent extra point made the score 16-7 in favor of the Gators, and it stayed that way until halftime. They tacked on two more touchdowns in the second half to secure a 30-21 victory. After the usual post-game speeches and reminders about their practice schedule, Troy figured he'd meet up with Abed and go home. However, his dad surprised him as he exited the locker room and walked out onto the field.

"Hey there, Troy," he greeted him with a firm handshake.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Just wanted to congratulate you and see if you have a few minutes to chat."

"Uh, just a second, lemme check with my roommate since I'm driving us home." He quickly scanned the emptied-out bleachers before realizing Abed wasn't there. Troy decided to call him.

"Hey, Abed. Where'd you go?"

"Library," he whispered back. "Mariah told me they just got a new Calvin and Hobbes book in. I texted you earlier, it was getting a bit cold and I didn't know how long your post game rituals took, so I walked over."

"Oh, I didn't see your message," Troy answered. "Anyway, I'm done with all the football stuff today, but my dad's here, so we're gonna catch up for a few minutes if that's ok with you?"

"Sure. More time with Spaceman Spliff is always fine by me."

"Alright, I'll come swing by the library parking lot to pick you up in a bit, then."

With the mystery of Abed's whereabouts solved, Troy instinctively retreated to the locker room to grab a football to toss around with his dad. They always felt freer to chat with each other when they had sports between them, and they rehashed some highlights of the Gators' game and discussed the Broncos' season for a bit before his dad seemingly got to his point.

"I was curious if you'd given any more thought to joining the AC repair school," his dad asked as he passed the ball back to Troy.

Troy frowned. "I'm not sure. I've heard some weird things about it."

His dad chuckled lightly. "Son, I don't mean to be rude, but Greendale as a whole strikes me as a pretty weird place, based on what you've mentioned in the past with the crazy Spanish teacher and the dean who's crushing on one of your friends. And going in for AC repair would open up a ton of career opportunities for you. Plus, you seem to have a real knack for it, don't you?"

"Yeah," Troy admitted. "I'm just not sure if it's what I want to do forever, you know? Every day for however many years."

His dad sighed. "Hate to break it to you, Troy, but nobody really wants to work. You know the saying, find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life?"

Troy nodded. His dad replied, with a slightly bitter laugh, "It's a load of crap. After all, you're still working! Or, take the idea that everyone has a dream job. Really, the dream is to not have to work at all, or to be able to work on your own terms without having to worry all the time about office politics, about making ends meet…" his dad sighed again. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to make this such a downer. We just all want you to be successful and it seems like this AC school is a strong option."

"Thanks, Dad," Troy murmured. "I know. I'll do some more research on it before winter break, ok?"

"Sure," his dad nodded. "And we're already proud of you. You know that, too, right?"

"Yeah," Troy answered, grateful that his voice didn't crack at all as he and his dad shook hands before they parted, and he swung over to the library parking lot to pick up Abed.

"Sorry that took a little longer than I expected," Troy apologized. "And I hope you at least had an okay time during the game."

"It was an enlightening experience, to say the least," Abed remarked. "I didn't expect middle school sports to be taken so seriously, but, I suppose when you have an emotional investment of your child participating, it's not so strange. I got a lot of good pictures, and Annie and I thought you coached effectively, based on your body language."

"Um, thanks?" Troy had mostly gotten used to Abed's keen observations, especially after they moved in together, but the frank way he shared them could still be a bit unsettling.

"Sure. You appeared to have good camaraderie with your players without losing rank as an authority figure. Sort of like if Constable Reggie coached football," Abed explained.

Troy grinned at the compliment, thinking, _"On the other hand, it's nice to have a friend pay such close attention to what you're doing."_

Abed continued, "By the way, something kinda odd happened during the game, and I could use your help in figuring out if I reacted well to it."

"Alright, what was it?"

"During halftime, Annie asked me if she could rest her head on my shoulder. This was, I think, after you and everyone associated with the two teams had run into the tunnel. She indicated she was tired, and I wasn't sure if getting her a coffee was the best idea, since I didn't know if the concessions sold decaf."

"That was a good call," Troy observed, knowing how jittery Annie could get off one cup of regular joe. He turned his attention back to the other part of Abed's statement, though. "So did you let her?"

"I did, briefly. Since she asked." Abed frowned for a second. "But, what I don't understand is, isn't that more boyfriend/girlfriend behavior than platonic friend behavior? And I doubt she gained too much restoration from a few minutes' reprieve from keeping her eyes open," he theorized.

"That _is_ boyfriend/girlfriend behavior, but it can also be platonic friend behavior. Annie might have just wanted to rest her eyes before driving to work. So I think you reacted appropriately," Troy responded carefully.

As he briefly contemplated the thought of Abed and Annie being boyfriend and girlfriend, that odd mix of feelings that had bubbled up in his stomach last night returned. If the two of them _did_ date—and, well, to be honest, it was a kind of strange concept—he'd be happy for them, of course. But he might also feel a bit hollowed-out, as if he was missing something, himself.

Abed nodded, seemingly satisfied with Troy's answer, before he asked, "So, is that something we'd ever do, as a platonic friend thing?"

"Um…" Troy hadn't really considered that Abed would ask that particular follow-up question.

" _We're already super close, though,"_ he figured, and honestly, it would hardly be that uncomfortable for either one of them for a brief time, so he replied, "Yeah. I mean, we could, if you were ever tired and wanted to, like, keep watching a movie on the couch, or something. Or vice versa, if that would be ok with you."

"Interesting. Yes, I wouldn't mind that, for a short time," Abed noted. "Any more than ten minutes or so and I'd probably ask you to move or move myself, though. And there was one other thing I wanted to mention."

"Sure, man. Go for it," Troy nodded as he swung his Honda Civic into their apartment's parking lot.

As they got out and walked up to their apartment, Abed confessed, "Last night, when Annie was telling us about her date tomorrow, I felt kind of uneasy about it. Maybe a little anxious. That was why I asked her so many questions. But I've never felt that way before, like when she was with Vaughn, or when she wanted to date Rich."

"You know, I had kind of a similar reaction," Troy admitted as he unlocked the door. "Maybe we're just worried about our Annie?" he suggested. "We knew Vaughn and Rich were decent guys before she was even interested in them. But we don't really know anything about this _Derek._ " He wasn't sure why the tone of derision was present in his voice, but either Abed didn't notice it or felt no need to comment.

"I'd considered that," Abed responded as he stepped out of his shoes, "but I mostly trust Annie to choose a suitable dating partner for herself. And getting ice cream at a shop in Greendale is a pretty safe first date, so I'm not overly concerned for her physical well-being."

"I'm not sure, then," Troy concluded with a shrug. "It could be as simple as us reacting to a sort of new experience, since I don't think she's gone on any dates since freshman year."

"That could explain it," Abed agreed, but his unconvinced tone suggested that he was grappling with something deeper regarding his feelings for their Annie, much like Troy himself was.

**

As part of his football season routine, Troy got up fairly early on fall weekends—usually by 9, at the latest—and this particular Sunday was no exception. The Broncos were squaring off against the Chargers in a crucial divisional showdown in the late afternoon, so he wanted to get caught up and maybe even a little ahead on his studies in the late morning and early afternoon. After breakfast and a morning cartoon (maybe Recess), but before his day took a left turn into various means of entertainment. Pavel was visiting for a long-overdue video game and hangout session around 1, and he'd possibly be the first guest for "Troy and Abed in the Morning (Afternoon Edition)." They weren't quite sure yet if they wanted to go for it.

The studying part went surprisingly well for a while, even when Abed joined him. In the past, they'd distracted each other too easily, but they'd recently co-opted Annie's Pomodoro method—thirty minutes of focused work, followed by a five minute break—with great results. They'd also added a twelve minute goof-off break after completing every third half-hour work session. The first one of these extended breaks, which involved discussing which one of Wishbone, Air Bud, or Beethoven could most successfully cross over to one of the other dogs' universes, happened to coincide with Annie starting to get ready for her date.

Troy didn't really understand why there was so much pressure on girls to dress up for dates when guys were basically expected to put on clean khakis or nice jeans and a button-down shirt, and he said as much to Annie when she emerged from the shower wearing a Greendale t-shirt and sweatpants, with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Well, you're sort of getting into character, in a way," she responded, smiling to herself. "Think of it as how you and Abed dress up to play in the Dreamatorium. You're mostly yourselves, like, how you are during any other normal day. But part of you is a little something else. A little brighter, a little lighter. That's how I approach dates, at least."

"Huh," Troy murmured to himself as Abed told Annie, "That's a really good explanation."

"Thanks, Abed," she answered before she retreated into her bedroom.

The two of them got back on track with their studying after their break ended, to the point that they were able to more or less call it a day from a homework perspective by 12:30 or so, which excited Troy. He'd be able to watch NFL Today with a totally carefree mindset before Pavel came over.

At least, that's what he'd planned on doing before Annie emerged from her bedroom, asking shyly, "What do you guys think of this for a first date look?"

She was wearing a teal dress, a gray cardigan, and black leggings. It seemed like a pretty standard Annie outfit, except for the somewhat quiet cardigan choice compared to her collection of bright pinks, purples, blues, and yellows. Troy was about to answer, in a totally supportive and friendly way, "You look great, Annie."

However, before he could do that, he noticed several small, distinctly not-everyday-Annie touches. Like how she'd curled her hair, and had on lipstick that veered closer to red than her usual neutral pink, and how she'd winged her eyeliner to accentuate her doe eyes.

And the cumulative effect of those additional touches—ones that accentuated the beauty she already possessed left Troy desperately hoping Abed could pull his Don Draper impression out of his back pocket, because his brain was short-circuiting worse than the knockoff Macs in the Greendale computer lab.

Annie's smile slipped a notch or two at their continued silence. "Um, guys?" she inquired again.

Troy managed a nod. "It's...wow."

" _It's wow?"_ he asked himself. _"That's all you could come up with? Seriously?"_

Annie blushed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

" _Ok, so that actually sorta worked. Cool!"_ Troy cheered himself on.

"Did I...did I accidentally break Abed?" The note of anxiety in Annie's voice unfroze Troy, and he snapped into action.

"I think all the studying this morning got to him," he answered, analyzing the faraway look in his best friend's eyes and willing himself to not glance over to Annie when she walked towards their position at the table. "Gimme a second, this worked the last time he reviewed Bio for too long." He leaned forward toward Abed and realized that, for a guy who ran on very little sleep, his complexion was really clear.

After giving his head a shake to file that weird observation into the junk drawer of his brain, Troy murmured slowly, "Hey, Abed. The mitochondria is the…"

"Powerhouse of the cell!" Abed exclaimed in response before tipping forward slightly in his chair. He blinked several times, as if clearing wisps of a daydream away. "Thanks, Troy. Nice meme use. How long had I zoned out?"

Troy risked a look at Annie for a time estimate. "Maybe like a minute?" she guessed.

"Ok," Abed nodded in her direction. "Definitely need to take a break from homework for a while. It'll be good to see Pavel soon." He shut his textbook and looked back at Annie. "You look lovely, Annie. Hope you have a nice time on your date."

"Yeah, have fun with Derek," Troy echoed, injecting his voice with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

"Thanks, guys! I'll probably be home in a couple of hours or so. See you later." With that, she headed out.

**

Troy, thankfully, didn't have to stay with his own highly confusing thoughts about Annie (and a couple of unusual ones about Abed) for too long, as Pavel came over around 1, and the three of them spent the next couple of hours blasting opponents to smithereens in Halo 4. They'd finished up a pretty quick game of Clue around 3:30 and heard Annie and Pavel bump into each other in the hall as the latter was leaving.

"Troy, quick question," Abed murmured as they cleaned up the game. "What's the protocol for asking your roommate about their date?"

"I'm not sure," Troy admitted. "But I think we should let Annie bring it up. I'd rather not ask how her date went if it didn't go well, you know?"

"Smart," Abed nodded appreciatively as Annie came in and stepped out of her flats. "Hey, did you two enjoy your play date with Pavel?" she chuckled.

Troy answered, in as deep a voice as possible, "For your information, we were hanging out. Like men. And yes, we did."

"Sadly, Pavel turned out to be a murderer today, but he caught himself," Abed added, pointing at the Clue board. "So...justice served, I guess?"

Annie laughed lightly at that as she went into her room to put away her purse, and Troy and Abed gave each other a thumbs up.

" _There's no way someone who chuckled and laughed in such quick succession had a bad date,"_ Troy thought to himself. He still didn't want to say anything for a while, though and was content to catch the tail end of the Ravens-Jets game on CBS before the Broncos-Chargers contest started at 4. Abed had ducked back into the blanket fort and, judging by the scratching noises and flutter of pages, was writing something—could be a film idea, a Dreamatorium plot, or a definitive ranking of James Bond's greatest gadgets. Troy genuinely had no idea how his best friend seemingly conjured endless ideas out of thin air—well, thin air and the film and tv show repository that was his brain—but it was one of the things he liked best about Abed. Living with him could certainly be strange, sometimes, but never boring.

Annie settled next to Troy on the couch a few minutes later. With her makeup scrubbed off, but her hair still wavy, she resided in a sort of limbo, part-way between date-Annie and apartment-Annie. Trying to figure out which version of her he liked best was too much for Troy's brain at the moment, so he sat quietly. "Got enough of a football fix this weekend?" Annie joked, nodding at the television.

"You can take the kid outta the field, but you can't take the field outta the kid," Troy answered with a grin, feeling like he'd just pulled off a Winger when Annie tilted her head to the side, clearly confused.

"What, you never got torn up by the turf pellets in PE at Riverside?" he asked. "Those things get all up in ya business."

Annie grimaced. "Can't say I did."

"Well, you weren't missing much." They shared a companionable silence for a while, both half-watching the game before Troy told her, "Thanks for coming to watch yesterday. I know you're not the biggest football fan in the world."

"Hey, extra credit is extra credit," she responded. "Abed and I had a pretty good time people-watching. Plus it was kind of cool to see you in your element, so to speak. Abed mentioned you seemed a lot like…"

"Constable Reggie," Troy finished her sentence.

"If he coached football," Annie laughed. "It must be kind of nice, having somewhere like that where you feel like you belong," she said wistfully, as if longing for something undefined.

Her sentence jogged Troy's memory of his chat with his dad. "It is, yeah. It's one place where I feel that way. I'm kind of trying to find more of a career-based place like that, though," he admitted, sharing a bit of his concern about the future.

"I hear you," Annie nodded. "I'd thought I would enjoy hospital administration but it's so...dull. I might change my field of study, but I'm not exactly sure to what yet."

"Well, whatever you want to do, Abed and I will support you," Troy reassured her. "Within reason." To try and shift things to a lighter tone, he finally decided to ask, "How was your ice cream date?"

Annie's face dropped, and she answered, in a falsely chipper tone, "Well, the ice cream part of it was great. I had this caramel ice cream topped with brown butter cake pieces and it was delicious. The actual date part was, um, ok."

" _Way to go, idiot,"_ Troy berated himself as Abed emerged from the blanket fort. It was rare that he picked up on subtle social cues, but he came over to join his friends on the couch. "Everything alright, Annie?" he asked, a slight crease of worry appearing on his forehead.

"It's nothing," she murmured, trying gamely to give both of them a smile. "It's just…" her smile wavered. "Have you guys ever _felt_ the tipping point when a date starts going wrong? And it's not just like, oh, we're sort of incompatible, oh well, but it feels like something you did, or said, fucked it up?"

"Yes," Abed answered quietly, and Troy registered a pang of pain at how quickly his best friend had replied to Annie's question.

"If I did, I was probably too dumb to realize it at the time," Troy responded, hoping to get a laugh from Annie, but Abed answered him, instead, in a tone that sounded like a warning, "Don't say that about yourself, Troy. Not even as a joke. Because it's not true."

"Okay, buddy," Troy murmured back after a minute, deeply touched by Abed's sentiment.

Annie looked at both of them with tenderness for a beat too long, then apparently decided the best way to handle her current state was to power through it, because she told them, "The date started off okay. We were discussing things like other classes, books, if we'd seen any good movies lately. Regular old first date topics. But then I asked Derek to tell me what weapon he'd want if he was in a horror film type apocalypse."

"Cool," Abed and Troy chorused together.

"The weapon he selected would say a lot about him," Abed noted. "Solid first date question, Annie."

"Yeah, well…" Annie's shoulders sagged a bit. "He didn't pick anything. He said he didn't see why he'd be in a horror film to begin with."

"That sounds kinda lame," Troy commented. "When your date asks a question like that, you should answer."

"Troy!" Annie chastised him, but her slight smile suggested she wasn't too upset. "So, anyway, then I asked him, ok, if you were specifically in a zombie apocalypse film, what would you do first?"

Abed frowned. "You were asking these interesting psychological questions that could lead to fruitful movie or TV discussions and the date _didn't_ go well?"

"No," Annie shook her head miserably. "After that, it was like...it was like Derek thought I should've been someone else. Like I was a weirdo for being interested in that kind of stuff. He just sort of clammed up the rest of the time, so I tried to reprise my role of goody-two-shoes Annie. But I haven't been her in a while, at least outside of class."

"I don't like to speak ill of people I haven't met, but in this case, this Derek guy seems pretty dumb. Did he even ask what kind of weapon _you'd_ take in a horror film?" Abed asked.

Annie shook her head again.

Troy clicked his tongue in distaste. "Amateur. So, what would you pick, Annie?"

"Silenced pistol," she responded without hesitating. "What about you two?"

"I'd take a chainsaw," Abed decided quickly.

"Gotta go with Woodsman Troy and get me an axe," Troy volunteered. "Wait a second, though. Do we get a loadout of four or five weapons we can toggle through like in Call of Duty, or just one weapon?" Troy wondered aloud.

"Ooh, tough call...how about one gun, a large one or two handed weapon, and a smaller weapon?" she suggested.

"In that case, I'm trading the chainsaw in for a sword and adding a hunting rifle and a screwdriver," Abed declared.

They transitioned from hashing out their selection of weapons to plotting what their first moves would be in a viral zombie outbreak and moved their conversation from the couch to the table, creating a light fruit and cheese tray as the late afternoon slipped away into early evening. Suddenly, Troy realized he'd missed two Bronco touchdowns in the second quarter. The game was already nearing half-time, but he found it difficult to care much about it when his attention was focused on how he, Abed, and Annie would form a makeshift city and the protocols they'd put in place to keep residents as safe as possible during a zombie apocalypse.

A bit later on, Annie rose from the table, telling Troy and Abed, "I'm gonna get changed now, and I've gotta get some work done, so I'm probably gonna hole up in my room for a bit. But I just wanted to say, thank you both for helping to cheer me up."

"Anytime," they responded automatically, each of them looking surprised at just how warmly the other had supplied their one-word answer.

Annie laughed. "This might sound weird, but...this whole roundtable discussion was honestly more fun than my actual date. So, thanks again, you two. Don't know what I'd do without my wonderful boys."

Troy could be kind of oblivious, sometimes, but even _he_ couldn't miss that Annie had blushed a deep scarlet and was kinda, sorta, clearly flirting. With him. And Abed. Seemingly at the same time!

"Well, you'd probably still be living above Dildopolis," Abed commented thickly.

"And we'd be stuck only having buttered noodles and Lean Cuisines for dinner, so, I think this worked out for everyone." Troy could feel his grin stretch a little too far, and Annie must have sensed the mutual awkwardness, because she squeaked, "Yeah. Yeah, it definitely did. I'll catch up with you guys later, then." She almost speed-walked over to her room and shut the door with a "snap."

After a minute, Abed asked, in a low voice, "Hey, Troy?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I think we might need some more weirdness to restore normalcy. So…" he took a deep breath. "Wanna try explaining football to me?"

Troy exhaled. "Sure. Sure, I can do that, Abed."

Even given Abed's massive lack of sports knowledge, talking him through the basics of football would certainly be easier for Troy than fessing up to the fact that he's developing distinctly non-platonic feelings for his two roommates and best friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Abed gratefully focused his brain on the many intricacies of American football that Troy was dissecting while a game between the Broncos and Chargers played out on television. Mostly because he needed a distraction from several significant observations he'd recently made about his roommates. Trying to push those to the back of his mind, Abed made a mental note to ask Troy what, exactly, a Charger was. He filed it away with his other football-related thoughts from the late afternoon, such as, "the Broncos' jersey design seems too busy," and "I wonder how much food the linemen eat per day."

He tuned back into the game's action as Troy told him, "They're reviewing to see if the wide receiver 'completed the process of the catch' before he hit the ground."

So far, most of Troy's explanations had made sense, and Abed appreciated that he was providing thorough descriptions of basic rules, as well as context of the game's events, without getting into overwhelming detail. This sentence, however, left him confused, and based on Troy's air quotes and mocking tone, he was right to feel that way.

"How can one complete the process of a catch? If you toss me a ball, and I catch it cleanly," Abed mimed the action, "like that player seemed to on the replay, then...the ball has been caught. The catch is done. How is there any process to that?"

Troy high-fived him and exclaimed, "Exactly!" Abed still didn't quite get what was going on, so Troy quickly explained, "The NFL is trying to transform the simple definition of a catch into something unrecognizable. So, per recent rule changes, if you've caught the ball and are falling over, as is the case with Eric Decker on this play, you haven't truly caught the ball until you 'survive the ground.'"

"Survive the ground?" Abed repeated, his confusion mounting.

"The modern NFL is a warped labyrinth of increasingly complex rules, Abed," Troy warned grimly. "A place where you can be told you didn't see what you just saw. Where reality can be rewritten by men in striped shirts with access to video replay equipment!"

"Sounds a bit like the Twilight Zone, or 1984," Abed commented. "I didn't realize there was so much drama in football, but I'm kind of enjoying it."

"Glad to hear it, man," Troy answered warmly. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do this if you're totally bored or uninterested."

"No, it's been interesting. Plus, I know I've introduced plenty of shows and movies to you and Annie over the years, so it's a new perspective to be on the receiving end of the arrangement."

"Cool," Troy replied as his stomach grumbled. "Ooh, I could go for dinner soon, I didn't realize it had gotten so late." It was already going on 6:45.

"Me, too," Abed agreed. "What are we having?"

An unfortunate realization hit them.

"None of us planned out a dinner for today, did we?" The lifelessness in Troy's voice indicated he'd already answered that question for himself.

"Annie!" he called toward her bedroom before going over and knocking.

No answer.

"She might have her earbuds in while she's working," Abed guessed.

Annie emerged from her room in her pajamas a handful of seconds later, wearing a look of consternation that matched Abed's. "My stomach just growled and it made me remember that we forgot to come up with a dinner for today," she groaned.

"How about breakfast food?" Abed suggested after a minute or so.

"That could work. I think we still have pancake mix," Annie commented as she walked toward the kitchen.

"I know we've got at least a couple eggs left from that carton we bought a couple weeks ago," Troy mentioned. "I can whip up some scrambled eggs."

"That would be great, Troy," Annie nodded. "Abed, you and me, pancakes?" she asked briskly as she tied on an apron and shifted into Taskmaster Annie mode (but, like, the Alex Horne and Greg Davies funny type of taskmaster, not a domineering diva).

Abed snapped off a quick, sharp salute. "Reporting for kitchen duty, Miz Edison."

As they all enjoyed their makeshift dinner about an hour later, Abed couldn't help but recognize another significant roommate observation he'd have to record in his notebook: _all members of Casa Trobedison respond well to adversity (and hunger) when working together._

Abed's observations had started as a way for him to fit in well as a roommate. Between being an only child and then having a dorm room to himself since freshman year, he recognized it would be helpful to compile some clues about how to best live with another person. Admittedly, he hadn't taken many notes about Troy's living habits, since they spent so much time together, but he'd correctly anticipated that adapting to Annie's needs would require some additional work. Some of Abed's observations to help make living in Casa Trobedison an ideal experience for her included the following:

_-Take shorter showers on school days (recall Wed. Oct. 5 7:58 A.M. decapitation threat aimed at self and Troy)._

_-Come up with at least two meal suggestions for each week's dinners (buttered noodles only count as a new suggestion once every two to three weeks)._

_-Suggest purchasing Ben and Jerry's on every third grocery shopping trip (not Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey; most other flavors are good)._

He'd also have to jot down some new and potentially unsettling observations soon, such as:

_-Annie, Troy, and I regularly use possessive pronouns while referring to each other (i.e. "our Annie" or "her boys"). This dynamic does not exist for other members of the study group._

_-Troy and I both registered reservations about Annie going on a date, which did not happen during her past attempts at finding a romantic partner._

_-Annie suggested she found our company more enjoyable than that of her date._

_-Troy and I both agreed that Annie was attractive when she asked us about her pre-date appearance and outfit choice._

Normally, Abed would bring up the changing dynamic, as well as his own shift from impartial observer to active participant in the observations, with the involved parties. However, that plan seemed fraught with potential complications, and he needed to work through his own feelings before he could start to think of sharing them with Troy and Annie.

" _They're my two closest confidantes and I can't discuss this with them at the moment,"_ he briefly despaired as he retreated to his part of the blanket fort bedroom for some personal thinking time. He quickly ran through a mental checklist of who else he could talk with and, after a couple of minutes, settled on Jeff. It was a bit of a coin-flip between Jeff and Britta, as they were about equally non-judgmental of others' life choices. But Jeff might be more willing to offer straight-up advice, whereas Britta would most likely want to explore the psychology behind his newfound feelings toward his roommates. Given that Abed himself couldn't yet pinpoint how or when exactly they'd developed, he'd rather not let anyone else go rummaging around in his mind too much—at least, not yet.

Abed was so caught up in his own thoughts that it took him a beat to respond to Troy and Annie saying, "Knock, knock" a couple of times on the other side of the blanket entrance.

"Yes?" he replied.

"We were curious…" Annie started breathlessly, before pausing and correcting herself, "Or, rather, _I_ was curious if you wanted to play out an episode of Get Smart in the Dreamatorium."

"One week of living here and she's already a total nerd," Troy declared proudly.

"Oh, shut up." Annie smacked him playfully on the arm, but her tone betrayed her affection.

After getting up off his bunk, Abed asked them solemnly, "That depends. Are you both prepared to fulfill your duties as CONTROL agents and stand up to the evil that is KAOS?"

"Absolutely," Troy and Annie affirmed.

"Alright, then. Let's put on costumes and we'll reconvene in five minutes or so."

**

As Abed had observed a few weeks ago during apartment 303's pilot episode, he could quite easily admit to the fact that both his roommates were quite attractive. However, it was possible that his recent realizations about their shifting dynamic as a trio had impacted him more seriously than he had previously. Because upon seeing Troy decked out in the sharp charcoal gray suit he'd worn for Shirley's rehearsal dinner/wedding and seeing Annie breathe life into a dark blue business suit with a white floral blouse on under her blazer, it took Abed a minute to start constructing the Dreamatorium environment for their evening's adventure.

"Feeling alright there, Max?" Annie asked softly, wrapping her slim fingers around his left wrist.

"We need you completely ready to go today, 86," Troy intoned as the Chief. "Let us know if you need a minute."

" _I wonder if Troy told Annie he checks on me that way, with that little wrist grab,"_ Abed thought for a second before faking a self-assured nod. "Most definitely. Just need to get things squared away here." He mimed taking his shoe off, then sighed at himself. "Wrong shoe. As usual. Other one's got the phone attachment," he exclaimed ruefully, starting to get into Max's character.

As had been the case last time, Troy and Annie started to back away slowly when Abed closed his eyes.

"You guys can stay closer to me, if you want," he murmured softly. "I don't think I'll need to concentrate quite as much to come up with the setting since we're all a bit more familiar with Get Smart than we were with ChalkZone."

They both sat down on the floor next to him, and Abed felt himself relax as the Dreamatorium's voice spoke.

" _Abed. Troy. Annie. Or is it Annie and then Troy?"_ the voice asked him.

He froze up for a second before thinking, _"Are you in their heads now, too?"_

" _No, but they're very much embedded in yours,"_ she answered, and, well, she wasn't wrong. _"And that electric current that was running between the three of you when you all made your last visit? It's tangled, wrapping around you all, drawing you tighter together. It might just surge into a live wire—not a dangerous one,"_ she reassured him, _"but it could be an explosive one, nevertheless. With the right spark. Who will set it off, though?"_ she wondered. _"And how will it be done? With a surgeon's painstaking precision? Or with a bar-man's clumsy, drunken fumble?"_

Trying to keep the tinge of impatience out of his voice—er, thought—Abed responded, _"Are you referring to…"_ he hesitated, then moved forward with a different, less obvious, but perhaps more intriguing question, hoping he'd be rewarded with a useful answer. _"Are there any sources you'd recommend for exploring this current you speak of in more detail?"_

" _Alas, I cannot comply with your request, Abed,"_ she replied, though she hardly sounded sorry. His suspicions were confirmed as she continued, _"Were I even in possession of such a capability, I would be loath to do so. This cannot be a solitary exploration."_ She paused for a second, then went on. _"I recommend discarding your standard frames of reference for it. They risk muddying your vision rather than bringing the clarity you seek."_

" _I see,"_ he nodded seriously. _"I can't quite remove all of them yet, at the moment. We're planning to act out an episode of Get Smart."_

" _Ah, a wonderful diversion. It will be prepared momentarily. Think on what I've said, won't you?"_

" _I will,"_ he thought. _"Thank you."_

" _You're welcome, Abed. And should your friends ever wish to engage in the world-building process, you need only invite them. They've demonstrated a proper understanding of this particular Dreamatorium space."_

"Good to know," Abed muttered to himself as the voice faded into the atmosphere. He gave Annie and Troy a nod to confirm he was ready. Once they responded in kind, he called, "Dreamatorium, render environment: CONTROL headquarters."

Normally, Abed had absolutely no problem getting fully immersed in the Dreamatorium's environment and his chosen character. Today, though, his thoughts drifted back to that idea about an electric current running between himself, Troy, and Annie. Their constant, easy, unapologetic contact kept his mind fixed on what the Dreamatorium's presence had said about the three of them being drawn closer and closer together. At one point, he found himself dancing the Charleston with Annie, guiding her in close to him with a hand on her hip to hide from a KAOS agent in a sea of bodies at a diplomat's birthday celebration. During another sequence, Troy unceremoniously pulled Abed back from peering around a corner with a tight grab of his upper bicep.

"Sorry," Troy murmured before jerking his head in the opposite direction and removing his hand from Abed's arm. "Thought I saw someone in that mirror."

"Should've remembered the old checking around corners in the mirror trick," Abed noted before clapping a grateful hand on Troy's shoulder. "Thanks, Chief."

Those little touches went on and on throughout their game, and while Abed knew, logically, there were only so many permutations of touch-points that could exist between three platonic friends, they _felt_ endless. The three of them pressed up close against one another when they gave a KAOS agent the slip and squeezed into a crowded train compartment. They crammed themselves like sardines into the front of the car that had the stolen nuclear codes and the activation buttons in its trunk after the back windows had been shot out during a chase. Abed normally struggled to deal with the constant brushing of arms and legs, the knocking of knees—it reminded him of being jostled around on overcrowded school buses during class trips he hadn't wanted to attend. But with Troy and Annie, he didn't find such contact too annoying at all.

**

As they exited the Dreamatorium, only mildly winded compared to when they'd had to run for their lives to escape ChalkZone, Annie stopped Abed. "Here," she murmured, standing on tiptoe and reaching up toward the knot of his tie before wiping at it. He leaned down to make it easier for her. "I noticed some dirt on your tie earlier, but I didn't think you'd appreciate me mentioning it during a shootout with KAOS," she mentioned with a smile.

"Thanks, Annie. Great suggestion to play out an episode of Get Smart, by the way."

"Yeah, that was a fun, but not too crazy Sunday session," Troy added as he shrugged himself out of his jacket.

"Thoughts on watching an Inspector Spacetime episode before bed?" Abed polled the two of them, but his question was mostly directed at Annie, as it was already a few minutes past 9 and she was usually off to sleep no later than 10 on Sundays. "If we start in a few minutes, it should be over by 9:45 or so."

"Sure!" she replied cheerfully. "I'm gonna throw my pajamas on and I'll be right back."

"I think we're going to do the same," Troy replied.

While Abed expected that Annie might not watch the whole episode, it was Troy, to his surprise, who started yawning and stretching about halfway through it.

Recalling what Troy had said yesterday about briefly resting their shoulders on each other being a platonic friend thing, Abed offered, "You can sort of lay on me for a bit if you want, Troy."

Troy gave a start. "Oh. Umm...thanks, buddy. If you're sure you're ok with that."

Abed shrugged. "For a few minutes. If I need you to move, I'll tell you."

"Thanks," Troy acknowledged, and with that, he slowly leaned back and to the side to rest his head on Abed's shoulder.

" _Well, if Annie thinks this is incredibly weird, she's doing a great job of hiding it,"_ Abed thought. She'd clearly seen what had happened, but hadn't made a single comment about it. After a few minutes, she cleared her throat and quietly asked, "Hey, Troy?"

"Yeah? Am I taking up too much room on the couch?"

"No, no," she quickly reassured him. "Would you mind if I kind of laid down like…" she turned sideways, mimicking Troy's pose, before almost resting her head on the side of his thigh. "Like this?" she asked.

"Sure, that's fine," he nodded, and the movement caused him to burrow into Abed's sweatshirt a bit more. As Annie laid down, she gently placed her hand on Troy's forearm, and he absentmindedly rubbed circles against her shoulder.

As Abed saw this happening, saw all three of them lazily connected by touch, he realized, _"It's like the Dreamatorium, but it's not. This is just us."_

He remembered the last time he'd had that thought, when they were all cooking dinner together, and he'd worried about being unable to find a show, or a script, or a trope that could provide an apt comparison to their behavior.

This time, he just enjoys the closeness of Troy's presence and the way he can feel his body shift ever so slightly when Annie, who's resting on Troy's legs, gasps or laughs at something in the show. He enjoys the way they're all linked like this, with semi-intertwined limbs.

Afterwards, Annie was the first one to get up, followed by Troy. Once again, Abed noted a similarity to their earlier adventure: he normally hated being squished by other people in tight quarters. However, with Annie and Troy, there was something oddly comforting about their proximity.

"That was an interesting episode," Annie remarked as she tugged her hoodie back around her shoulders.

"The season finale two-parter is only a few episodes away," Abed commented. "If we have time to get through, I think, three more episodes during the week, then we could watch the special next weekend."

Troy grinned. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"If we watch one or two episodes with dinners, that's definitely doable," Annie agreed. She finally rose from her spot on the couch and lingered for a minute after she stood, gazing at Troy and Abed with rather more warmth than he was used to seeing from her before she bid them goodnight.

Abed exchanged a glance with Troy, who looked similarly confused at the minor development.

After a second, Troy simply declared, "Women can be confusing sometimes."

Abed chuckled in agreement. Once they'd climbed into their respective bunk-beds, he and Troy discussed whether a laser gun or a laser sword would be more useful to own in the context of day-to-day life. As he drifted off to sleep, Abed was happy to recognize that, even with Annie around, and even with the somewhat unexpected additions of physical contact between all his roommates, he and Troy would still be able to maintain their own special friendship.

**

Though that Sunday night hardly seemed monumental or significant to Abed at the time, it seemed to catalyze a full on paradigm-shift amongst Casa Trobedison's residents.

Within a couple of weeks, the small, barely-there touches that the three of them shared became more commonplace not just in the Dreamatorium, but throughout the apartment. For instance, Abed learned that Annie appreciated receiving backrubs when she was stressed, and watching the tension melt off her shoulders was well worth the five or so minutes it took him to do.

He and Troy, of course, continued making liberal use of their handshake, whether it was for celebrating a video game victory or cheering that all three of them had received marks of at least 90 on one of their group projects for 20th Century Youth Culture. Most of Troy's touches were similar to the ones he'd always given Abed—a shoulder squeeze here, a pat on the back there. However, the two of them had grown more comfortable with resting on one another, once in a while, when they wanted to watch a show from a somewhat reclined position on the couch. And while it didn't happen too frequently, Annie sometimes joined them to form a bit of a cuddle pile there when they were all tired, but also stubbornly committed to watching Inspector Spacetime or Cougar Town.

Abed appreciated how Annie so effectively personalized her touches. She and Abed shared light contact, brief grazes—he'd guide her through secret passages in the Dreamatorium with a hand on her arm, or she'd silently alert him to her presence in the somewhat cramped kitchen while they were all cooking together with a gentle touch to the small of his back. Annie and Troy, meanwhile, spoke with more of a playful body language, trading tiny jabs with each other, along with the occasional arm swat or hip bump.

Eventually, all the touches spilled over to other spaces, too, though it took awhile for it to happen, and even longer for the rest of the group to notice; thanks to Annie's belief that "being on time means you're late," she, Troy, and Abed were usually among the first to arrive at the study room. However, they had to resolve a minor dishwasher fiasco one day in mid-October, so they ended up being the stragglers, with Annie dashing off a couple of frantic apology texts as they pulled into the library's parking lot. The group's responses were predictable, with Shirley sending shade disguised as a nicety, Britta not texting back because there was no true need to do so, and Jeff providing a playfully snarky joke.

Despite their late entrance, the three of them linked arms, with Annie walking in between Troy and Abed, as was their new custom.

" _I'm not sure if it qualifies as a custom if we've only done it thrice before, but it's getting there,"_ Abed figured.

Jeff snorted as they came in the room. "What are you guys, the Three Musketeers?"

Knowing it would irk Jeff slightly, and would also distract Shirley from giving Annie the stink-eye for engaging in a public display of physical affection toward her male roommates, Abed answered, "That would be a fun Dreamatorium adventure to explore. Great idea, Jeff."

He groaned. "I thought you living with Troy and Abed was gonna get them off their bullshit, sometimes," Jeff complained to Annie.

"What, so it's automatically a _woman's_ place to help men grow up and stop being oversized boys?" Britta asked indignantly.

Abed mentally consulted his social calendar—Jeff and Britta were either due for a drunk night out or a sober frenemies one-night stand soon, based on his calculations.

"Not everything has to be a man vs. woman discussion, Bri-tta," Shirley replied in her overly bright, slightly saccharine voice. "But I will say, I'd probably trust Annie to help them get their acts together more than you or Jeff," she muttered, unifying Britta and Jeff almost instantly.

After they groused for a minute or two, Troy burst out hotly, "You know, we bought cleaning supplies recently. We even bought a Swiffer, and Abed and I know how to use it!"

"And the apartment's got a Rachel and Joey vibe to it now. We have responsible fun," Annie commented, grinning at Abed's appreciative finger guns.

Unfortunately, Shirley then pointed at Annie as if directing the wrath of God and cried, "I warned you about getting tangled up in that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston nonsense, Annie!"

"What?" Britta and Jeff chorused.

Abed didn't roll his eyes—it was too obvious a reaction—but Troy and Annie did. The three of them all shared a look that plainly said, _"Our friends are idiots, sometimes."_

Before Shirley could condemn their nonverbal communication as some sort of heathen voodoo, Abed quickly piped up, "Hey, Troy, Annie. We still need to complete one more quintessentially American activity for extra credit in Youth Culture, right?"

They both nodded.

"Would you want to go to Lakeside next Saturday night? I think all our schedules are open then, if I remember right from looking at the calendar. And that kind of old-timey theme park seems like a pure slice of Americana." He paused, half-torn between extending the offer of coming along to the others or having it be an activity just for the three of them. Truthfully, Abed would prefer the latter. The group inevitably ended up splintering off into smaller packs in those types of wide-open settings, and rounding everyone up was like herding cats.

As luck would have it, though, Abed didn't have to worry about a timeline where his other friends attended.

"I'm shadowing one of the psychiatrists who works at the Greendale Hospital for most of the afternoon as part of my psych internship, so I'm probably gonna just lay low that night," Britta explained.

"And we went to that carnival to see Blade pretty recently, so I'll pass," Jeff commented before Shirley added, "Same for me. Plus Andre and I are planning a movie night with the kids."

"So, it'll just be the three of us, then?" Annie asked, a hint of a smile playing at her lips.

"Seems that way, if you two are up for it," Abed confirmed.

"Definitely. Good idea, buddy." Troy initiated their handshake, and with that little group outing to look forward to, the day's study session went by faster than Abed had anticipated it would.

**

That Saturday ended up going by in a pretty quick blur, too. Abed took advantage of the quiet in the early morning to edit a short film for one of his fine arts courses, as Troy was coaching another Gators game and Annie's shift at Whole Foods had started around 9. After making decent progress on his project, Abed enjoyed a cup of special drink, made a pot of buttered noodles for lunch, and rewatched a couple episodes of Cougar Town before heading out for an afternoon work-study shift at the library. After returning home, he threw on a hoodie—given the amusement park's location near the water, it could possibly get chilly. The three of them piled in Troy's car to leave around 6.

"I thought the adult rides don't open til about 7, Abed," Troy asked curiously as they each paid their $18 admission.

"They don't," Abed admitted. "But I figured we could walk around a bit, explore the park's Main Street type area, and take some pictures before it gets too dark."

As they stepped into the cobblestone village, Annie let out a trademark "aww" before telling them excitedly, "It's like stepping back in time!"

"Yeah, the retro vibes are strong here," Abed agreed, snapping a couple quick photos of the ferris wheel's flashing lights.

"Makes a girl wanna put on her favorite party dress and see if any fellas would be kind enough to take her out for an egg cream or a milkshake," Annie drawled in her hammed-up, 1950s "girl about town" voice, giving a coquettish wink at Troy and Abed in turn.

" _She's always been good at leaning into that role,"_ Abed noted admiringly. Probably in part because her standard style—bright cardigans paired with floral dresses or patterned blouses and solid skirts—wouldn't be too out of place during that era. And, yet, the look didn't ever come off as out of place or frumpy.

" _It's even stranger,"_ Abed thought, _"because I've seen a few other women around campus dressed similarly to Annie, but I've never thought that they can pull off those kinds of outfits as well as she does."_

While he was thinking, Troy answered Annie, in an equally saucy tone, "Whaddaya say we check out that soda shop, then?" and pointed up the street, where there actually was a replica soda shop.

"I say you know what a lady wants, Mr. Barnes," Annie flirted back before linking her arm through Troy's and doing the same for Abed; as usual, she'd found her way into the middle. "And what about you, Mr. Nadir? Are you coming with us?" she purred.

He took a pull off an imaginary cigarette, flicked it aside, and declared, "Absolutely. Going out for an egg cream with the likes of yous is a swell idea!"

While Annie's set-up seemingly called for her to be the center of attention, Abed would've felt strange leaving Troy out, as if doing so would have thrown their dynamic off-kilter.

"You know, I was worried this place was going to be a little decrepit, after reading about it online, but it's only mildly sketchy," Annie remarked.

"It's Greendale level sketchy. Gives it some charm and character," Troy replied, and they all laughed at that as they entered the replica soda shop.

Abed quickly took a couple of pictures of Troy and Annie giving each other matching puppy dog eyes at the bar to go along with the fake-date idea. After a few, Troy swapped out so Abed could take his slot.

He figured that would be the end of it, but Annie asked, "Do you guys mind if I play photographer for you two?"

They looked each other up and down for a few seconds before they both shrugged. "Sure." After Troy passed the digital camera to Annie, he and Abed posed together instinctively, each slinging an arm around the other's shoulder and smiling easily.

"I dunno if this is weird to say, but you two look _good_ together," Annie commented appreciatively as she snapped a handful of shots. "Making my job as an amateur photographer really easy over here."

They turned to each other and each gave an exaggerated shrug, making funny faces at the same time for the camera, eliciting laughs from Annie as she kept clicking away before walking toward them and returning the camera to Abed.

"Could we try to get one of all three of us?" Annie suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, I think so. Here, Annie, step to my right," Abed instructed. "And then if you both squeeze in next to me…"

Annie and Troy struck mirrored poses, each putting one hand on Abed's arm on either side of him while they reached the other around his back, and he felt the warmth of their two hands pressing against his spine as he took a handful of photos.

"Nice camera skills, Abed," Troy complimented him as they looked over his pictures.

Annie added, "They came out so well! We look great."

"Yeah," Abed nodded, grinning at both of them as they walked out of the soda shop and headed toward the rides. He noted again, quietly, more to himself, "Yeah, we do."

**

Despite its age, or perhaps because of it, Abed quickly discovered that the Lakeside Amusement Park provided a veritable feast for the senses. The old-timey carnival music provided a perfect backdrop for the whoops of laughter and screams of excitement from Annie and Troy as the rickety, wooden coaster swooped down its first big drop, for the satisfying, metal-on-metal _crunch_ of the three of them bashing into each other's vehicles during a bumper car battle for the ages. The sheer quantity of bright, multi-colored light bulbs spread across rides, concession stands, and other attractions reduced the need for standard light poles, which gave the park more of a small-town feel and made for some interesting contrasts in Abed's pictures. Even the ever-present scent of fried food, which often reminded Abed of working in his father's kitchen, didn't bother him too much; he was too busy laughing when Annie yelled, "Screw it, I'm an adult, and I want junk food!" and bought cotton candy for the three of them to share as they started their trek toward the park exit around 10:30.

"Someone take this away from me before I eat enough to really regret it," she mumbled through a fluffy mouthful of the pink and blue confectionary delight. Troy, who'd ended up in the middle of the trio, chuckled and followed her request, then passed it over to Abed when Annie made a sneaky reach for it.

"Tsk, tsk. Look at this deplorable behavior. Spending the day with two men, eating sugary treats…" Abed clucked his tongue before deadpanning, "You're headed straight down a path of sin, Annie. Right now the cotton candy is only staining your tongue, but soon, these kind of events will stain your soul."

She and Troy burst out laughing.

"It starts with living with your two best friends, transitions to finishing an extra credit assignment with them, and ends with the devil laying claim to your heart!" she proclaimed dramatically before shaking her head. "As if, Shirley."

"This might be kinda rude," Troy added, as he linked arms with Annie and Abed, "but I'm glad it worked out that we were able to do this, like, just the three of us. Hanging out with the two of you is so easy."

"Logistically, it's much nicer to not wonder if other members of your group are going to wander off without providing details on their whereabouts," Abed noted. "And I appreciate knowing that, if you two really don't want to do something, you'll tell me and maybe suggest another activity, rather than show up and act like you're attending under threat of death."

" _Jeff,"_ Troy and Annie groaned simultaneously, causing all three of them to break out in giggles again.

"Don't get me wrong, I love everyone in our study group," Annie hastily noted, and Abed and Troy agreed immediately, nodding, "Yeah, absolutely."

"But," she went on, blushing slightly, "you two are definitely my favorites. Like you said, Troy, we all get along really easily and there's less random drama."

"The feeling is mutual," Abed confirmed.

From between them, Troy agreed, saying, "For sure," before adding, "I mean, imagine if Britta were here. She'd probably complain about all the chemicals in the cotton candy and try to get people to boycott," he joked.

And as they laughed at that, during their exit, Abed recognized the final piece of what had made the evening so enjoyable, more than the twisting turns of the Wild Mouse coaster or the old-school pinball machines in the arcade. It was the sense of togetherness, the slight transition of their physical actions matching their shared declarations of affection as the three of them dropped their arms and clasped their hands together to leave the park and sojourn to Troy's car to head home.


	7. Chapter 7

The ending to their night out at Lakeside-the three of them, holding hands on the way to Troy's car-marked the first time Annie indulged her secret daydream, or fantasy, outside the Dreamatorium's walls. The first time she went, _"Oh."_

The first time she thought, _"This is how it might work. How it might look."_

If she, Abed, and Troy dated.

She tried to squash her optimism down, told herself, _"Except Troy and Abed don't like you that way. After all, Abed would have said something if he registered that significant a change in our three-person dynamic, and Troy hadn't been shy about hinting that he was interested in me that one time freshman year."_

Granted, they've all changed since then-her and Troy's relationship, in particular, has changed massively for the better. But, even now, he's not the best at keeping his feelings and emotions under wraps.

Annie contented herself with replaying the newly-formed memories of the evening on a loop, thinking back to how Troy and Abed had flirted with her, each in their own, special way as they walked to the soda shop. Of how the three of them had crammed together so they'd all fit for that one picture, of the pleasant warmth of Troy's hand resting on top of hers across Abed's back. Of how nice it was that Abed had let her play photographer, at how he and Troy had posed so easily for a handful of pictures.

Annie gasped as a new realization struck her.

" _What if Troy and Abed are already secretly dating?"_

"You ok, Annie?" Abed asked, craning his neck to glance back upon hearing her sharp intake of breath.

"Ye-yeah," she lied. "Sorry. I just thought I'd forgotten to do an online response to a reading for my business admin course, but then I remembered it's due tomorrow night," she invented.

"Ah. Ok." Abed turned back away from her in the passenger seat up front.

" _It wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world,"_ Annie reasoned after her heart stopped galloping a mile a minute. _"The two of them are ridiculously close, even for best guy friends. And they would be incredibly cute together."_

As they arrived back home, though, Annie warned herself, _"Don't go assuming or reading too much into things. That's how you ended up pining over Jeff basically all summer before sophomore year. And that goes for any...permutations of relationships between you, Abed, and Troy."_

Even with that admonition in her head, Annie couldn't help but consider what it might be like to give Abed and Troy a goodnight kiss-nothing too sensual, just a quick, nearly-chaste peck on the lips-when the three of them all got ready for bed following their theme park adventure.

**

Annie didn't have a ton of time to reflect on her burgeoning feelings for her roommates, though, because the calendar flipping to November reminded everyone at Greendale, including teachers, that the end of the fall semester was just a month and a half away.

"Jeff. Non-academic question," Britta groaned at the conclusion of one painfully long study and homework session during the middle of the month. "Is the corporate job world gonna try to kill us like this?"

"It'll try to kill you in a different way, called unpaid overtime," he responded darkly; Bio was dampening all of their moods. "Though getting paid for work is much nicer than the inverse we're all going through here."

"I hear that," Shirley muttered, drawing nods of approval from the rest of the group.

"You know what we should do the weekend after our next Bio test, the one coming up on the 16th?" Abed put forth to the group.

"Get drunk!" Jeff and Britta declared.

"Sleep like the dead?" Troy and Shirley guessed.

"Both of those sound like promising ideas," Annie remarked.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes," Abed replied, pointing to each of the other study group members in kind. "But those options, or combinations thereof, weren't specifically what I had in mind. I was thinking we could have a friendsgiving. Or a friends-luck dinner," he amended, as Britta appeared ready to go on one of her angry rants about how the pilgrims' brutal murder and exploitation of Native Americans and their resources had been repackaged into a holiday that encouraged gluttony. "We haven't had one yet, and it's a fairly common group activity."

"That could be a nice way to celebrate before the actual holiday," Shirley concurred. "Have you thought about a potential menu, Abed?"

"Nope, haven't gotten that far in my planning. I want to consult with these two first," he responded, gesturing at Annie and Troy.

" _Wait, are we...does Abed want to have it at the apartment?"_ Annie thought incredulously. She liked the general idea of his friendsgiving proposal, but there was a huge difference between bringing a side dish to a party and having to cook _and_ host.

Judging by the creases in Troy's forehead and his bug-eyed expression, this was the first he was hearing of this plot, as well. Annie caught an apologetic look from him that said, _"Lemme talk to Abed alone."_

Annie gave him a stiff nod, trying and failing to de-escalate her irritation with Abed. Troy, it seemed, picked up on her frustration, as he quickly told her after the rest of the group had left, "Annie, could you please give us a second? We'll meet up with you at your car."

"Sure." She willed herself to walk out of the room at a normal pace.

" _It would've been nice to have some warning about this group meal thing before having it dropped on us out of the blue,"_ she muttered internally. Between work and academics, her schedule was jam-packed from now til the end of the semester, practically. And there was also that little matter of figuring out just what she wanted to do with her life, because it sure wasn't hospital administration.

"Annie!"

Abed's call to her sounded out of breath, as he'd jogged over to catch up with her. Troy hung back a little bit.

"Yeah?" she asked, her tone falling about half a foot short of polite.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up in crossing off one of my college bucket list items," Abed apologized. "Troy reminded me that springing things on you without checking in is a sub-optimal way to be an ideal roommate, especially sort of close to the end of a semester. I'm going to make a note of that for myself in my journal."

"Troy mentioned that to you?" she asked, a bit surprised-observation wasn't always his strong suit. "And what do you mean, your journal?"

"My journal of observations regarding your likes and dislikes as a roommate of Casa Trobedison," he explained. "I made some for Troy, too. I'm not always the best at reading social cues, you know, so having notes to reference helps me."

Most of Annie's previous annoyance with Abed melted away. She sometimes forgot just how much he worked at operating in a world that unfairly labelled him as "abnormal" when, really, everyone was. She also felt a flash of affection for Troy so easily recognizing the source of her exasperation and conveying it to Abed so quickly without hurting his feelings.

The sky had opened up during their chat, or else Annie would've yanked both of them into a group hug. As it was, she instead smiled warmly at them once they'd all dashed into her car.

"You ok now, Annie?" Troy asked from the backseat.

She nodded at him in the rearview mirror before offering each of them a grin. "I'm always ok when I'm with my boys. Now, Abed, in regards to this friendsgiving dinner…" she paused and gulped. "Please tell me you have at least _some_ ideas for it, since it's only about a week and a half away."

He grinned. "I have a handful. A master sommelier never reveals too much to his guests ahead of time. That's why I told Shirley I hadn't thought of anything."

"And we talked briefly about that before we caught up with you," Troy added. "We're gonna help organize this as much as possible. Since there are two of us and one of you, we don't want you to be overwhelmed. Even if the one of you might be more organized than us."

"Aww, you guys," Annie murmured affectionately as she started her car. "How about we have a Casa Trobedison planning meeting tonight, after dinner?"

"Sure," they both confirmed.

Thrilled with the quick resolution to a potential problem, Annie completed her recently-minted secret handshake with Abed, exchanging a sideways high-five and backhand tap, followed by a fist bump and an explosion. She then reached into the backseat to do the same with Troy, cocking her arm to the side to give him an angled high-five, followed by an elbow spike and drawing finger pistols and firing them at each other once before holstering them.

Despite the fact that she was still viewing the two of them purely as friends, Annie couldn't help but fondly reflect, _"If sharing a secret handshake with two dorks isn't a sign of some type of love, then what is?"_

**

After the three of them whipped together a quick dinner of an apple cheddar chicken salad and cleaned up their bowls, Annie retrieved her trusty notebook and created a new Google doc on her laptop.

"So, what do you have in mind for friendsgiving to this point, Abed?" she asked once the three of them got re-settled at the dining room table.

"I figured, doing an actual Thanksgiving dinner would be a huge pain, not to mention redundant right before the actual holiday. And I don't want to put us through the typical holiday comedy scenes of food getting burned, things catching on fire, drunk guests freaking out, et cetera," he explained, earning grateful nods from both Annie and Troy for his reasoning. "But I figured we could do a lot of the typical vegetarian side dishes-stuffing, green beans, cranberry Jello-for Britta and then maybe make those Asian chicken meatballs with oven-roasted broccoli as a main course."

"Good call, Abed. We usually like that, and it's not too hard a dish to make," Troy commented.

"No, it's not," Annie agreed, quickly typing out the list of dishes under their names on her list. "And we could prep some of the side dishes ahead of time and then reheat them. Getting the timing down and making sure there's enough oven space for everything might be a little tricky, though," she frowned. "Ok, what else should be on the list?"

"Rolls and mashed potatoes are easy sides that other people could bring, and the mashed potatoes could just get reheated in the microwave," Troy suggested. "Or we could get regular snacks. You haven't lived til you've tried a nacho cheese Dorito and turkey sandwich."

"Ooh, if we're talking snacks, we could totally recreate some of a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," Abed piggy-backed off of Troy's culinary thoughts. "Get some toast, popcorn, pretzels, jelly beans."

Annie laughed as she typed. "I'll add rolls, mashed potatoes, and jelly beans, at least, to our list. Plus frozen corn as another vegetable. Jeff and Britta should be able to handle those items."

"So that would leave Shirley on desserts," Troy indicated as he came around to Annie's chair to check her list. He and Abed simultaneously shuddered at the realization, recalling how she'd come over to their apartment about three hours too early during their housewarming party to bake pies and make a pizza.

"We'll need to tell her we have limited oven capacity," Annie answered firmly. "And maybe suggest she makes cupcakes or cookies, since those wouldn't need to be kept in the fridge like a cake would."

"That seems like a good idea," Abed observed after looking up the notes Annie had compiled.

"Thanks," Annie smiled. "Oh, and we should add beer and no-no juice to the list, but people can bring whatever beverages they want, too," she added. "I'll color-code everyone's sections, print this out at the library tomorrow, and pass out hard copies to everyone at our next study group sesh. Plus share it to their emails so they have a digital version."

"You're like an event-organizing wizard, Annie," Troy marveled, clearly impressed, and she blushed before answering lightly, "Well, when you have to pull your life together more or less by yourself at 18 after getting out of rehab, being organized helps a lot."

"Since then, you've had an amazing redemption arc," Abed replied proudly. "Or, not exactly a redemption arc, since you were never an antagonist," he corrected himself. "More like a comeback embedded within a _bildungsroman._ "

"A Roman is building what now?" Troy asked, somewhat bewildered.

"A coming of age story," Annie quickly translated before turning to Abed to offer him a thank you. Her smile faded after a second, though. "I'm just not sure exactly what I want to do next, after graduation," Annie sighed. "I'm pretty sure it's not hospital administration. And Greendale's career services department isn't really top-notch."

"Well, we know you're really smart, driven, and able to help solve plenty of our problems. You'll definitely work out what you'll do after graduation and find something better suited for your talents," Troy reassured her.

"Yeah," Abed agreed, "there'd be no payoff to seeing a protagonist like you grow and develop only to find herself unfulfilled later in life, Annie."

"Thanks, guys," Annie answered warmly. "Once the semester ends, I'll definitely have some free time to explore my options in more detail."

She jotted that reminder down for herself in her notebook, and then turned her attention to what was rapidly becoming a never-ending, semi-torturous, self-assigned homework assignment: keeping her feelings about Troy and Abed to herself.

They didn't make it particularly easy, especially not with how the three of them were now in near-constant contact with each other. She and Troy often brushed elbows when they were eating next to each other at the dining room table, and Abed had developed a little habit of gently scooching close to her to quietly explain the significance of a shot or a scene in a show or movie if it's something Troy's seen or heard before.

She'd contemplated somehow telling them-either together or separately, she wasn't sure-but could never get beyond the absurdity of it all, of saying, _"Hey, guys. I know I've only been living here for almost two months, but I have crushes on and want to date both of you. Whaddaya say to embarking on a polyamorous relationship amongst roommates?"_

It was a mouthful to think about, let alone speak into existence, and that was nothing compared to the sheer awkwardness and embarrassment that would calcify in their little, three-person universe when Abed and Troy both turned her down.

" _Much, much better to keep these feelings to myself,"_ Annie reflected. She knows she's talented in a lot of areas, but repression? It's still kinda her specialty, even though she's worlds removed from the high schooler who continually denied she had a pill addiction nearly all the way until she checked herself into rehab.

So she let herself enjoy the three-person banter they've cultivated, their touches, and the various hilarious, absurdist moments that spawn out of Troy and Abed's adorable relationship. She especially enjoyed the way they referenced Potter Puppet Pals on her behalf by randomly texting Jeff "Bother, bother, bother," for about a week until he finally committed to bringing rolls and a bottle of fancy white wine to friendsgiving. But she didn't let herself think, or even daydream, that any of it meant they'd ever progress beyond friendship as a trio.

" _And that's perfectly fine,"_ Annie told herself during a classic Casa Trobedison Thursday night movie showing. _"I get to live with my two amazing best friends. I don't…"_

Annie wants to say she doesn't literally _need_ anything more than friendship from Abed and Troy. But she's terrified that might be a lie, so she silences herself entirely, instead, and just drinks in the ambience of her boys' latest Kickpuncher series rewatch.

**

In a reprisal of the last time she'd registered such strong feelings for Troy and Abed, though, Annie had little choice but to suppress them to get through another grueling stretch of schoolwork. She knew she hadn't exactly aced her Bio test, but she cheered with the rest of the study group as they all exited the lab and departed with mutual calls of, "See you this weekend for friendsgiving!" Britta had, fortunately, relented on despising the name, on the grounds that their other titles for it sounded odd.

That Sunday, Annie not-so-quietly fretted that a kitchen disaster would unfold at any moment, as Abed had alluded to during their initial menu-planning phase. Fortunately, no catastrophe ever materialized when the three of them started prepping the stuffing, along with the cranberry Jello, around 2:30, well before the scheduled 4:00 dinner.

Annie didn't mean, exactly, to abandon ship, but suddenly she glanced up at the clock on the oven and saw it was already 3:15.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "Would you guys mind prepping the meatballs, sauce, and broccoli while I get ready?" she asked apologetically. "I totally lost track of time, I don't know how."

"Sure," they both answered without a second thought, to her immense relief and slight surprise.

"We've helped you make it before, we've got this," Abed reassured her, almost shooing her out of the kitchen.

"Thank you both so much!" Annie called as she raced to the bathroom to take a quick shower. "I'll get all the plates and silverware ready once I'm dressed."

Annie had planned to throw on one of her standard outfits-cardigan, dress, tights, boom, done-when she found herself going deeper in her closet, her fingers skimming over a black cinch-waist shirt dress she'd bought a long, long while ago and hadn't had the opportunity to wear. Her special Greendale garb was mostly reserved for Halloween or paintball wars; as far as formal, classy events went, the last one she'd attended had been that party at Jeff's old law firm.

Recalling what Jeff's always told them about looking good and feeling good (that and "dress well, test well" are two of his favorite fashion phrases), Annie decided to try the dress on, for a lark.

A stranger stared back in her mirror and she nearly gasped. She remembered the sales consultant at the store encouraging her to buy the dress a size smaller than normal because they ran big, and she'd have to thank her. As she tied the belt, she marveled at just how much it accentuated her waist and showed off her legs without being too short. And though Annie didn't like to brag, her boobs looked pretty damn spectacular in it, too.

She glanced at her watch. It was only 3:30; she'd flown through her shower. Wanting to still be a responsible roommate, she cracked open her door a smidge and called out to Troy and Abed, "I'll be out in, like, five minutes, tops. You guys still good?"

"Yep!" Troy's voice struck her as a bit higher-pitched than normal, but nowhere near his panic or meltdown mode, so Annie decided, _"A special dinner amongst friends should call for some pampering, right?"_

She went light on the eyeliner, given that the dress was a "dark night sky" shade of black, then applied a swipe of Pop Punk Princess Pink lipstick around her mouth. She was just about to go rejoin her roommates and pitch in with the rest of the preparation when something stopped her. Annie frowned in the mirror.

" _Would it be crazy to put my hair up with this?"_ she thought.

She threw together a messy pencil bun before adjusting it slightly, chuckling silently as she remembered the last time she'd worn it in this style, during the Dean's insane commercial shoot.

She glanced in her mirror one last time and grinned.

" _Look good, feel good? Nah, fuck that. More like look great, feel great!"_ she declared to herself confidently as she strode out to the kitchen to retrieve napkins and silverware to set the dining room table.

She'd expected a little bit of a reaction from the boys-after all, her outfit was a pretty significant departure from her usual, more conservative style-but the way they both froze while checking on the meatballs and broccoli sent a spark of a thrill through her bones.

"Um, did we miss something about a dress code?" Abed asked, his voice shaking a little.

"No," Annie shook her head and responded brightly, "I just figured, it's the first time we're having a friendsgiving, so I wanted to commemorate it with the first time I wore this dress."

"Well, if you're getting dressed up, we might as well make ourselves a bit more presentable," Troy commented, gesturing sheepishly to his and Abed's current outfits of blue jeans and Inspector Spacetime t-shirts.

"Oh, no, don't feel like you have to do that on my behalf," she insisted.

"It'll be no problem," Abed replied suavely. "We can get changed one at a time and that way one of us will always be here to help you." He cleared his throat and added, "Uh, get everything ready."

"I'd appreciate that," Annie answered with a soft smile as she loaded six sets of silverware into their dishwasher's cutlery tray to carry over to the dining room table. Abed helped her set the table and pour out waters for everyone while Troy got changed into a maroon sweater and khakis. Then, she and Troy started divvying vegetables into serving platters while Abed threw on a mint green button down shirt, a gray cardigan, and black pants.

"I don't want to be a Ron Stoppable and declare victory too early, but I think we did a good job pulling all this off," Abed commented as the three of them settled on the couch with about five minutes to spare before everyone else was slated to arrive.

"Looks like it," Troy replied happily, and Annie nodded her agreement since she didn't trust herself to speak at that second.

Because despite her best intentions, Annie couldn't help herself from realizing, _"My boys clean up well. Really well."_

She also couldn't help herself from thinking, _"If we were all going out on a sort of nice date, like upscale casual...this feels like the kind of outfits we'd wear."_ She'll have to ask Jeff if "upscale casual" is a thing, because she's not sure.

The first knock at the door, signaling Shirley's arrival, interrupted her thought process. Britta and Jeff followed soon after.

He'd gotten a tiny bit dressed up, as well, roughly on par with Abed and Troy, wearing grey khakis and a dark blue button down shirt. Jeff looked shocked at their appearances-Annie couldn't really blame him on that one-and he fixed her with an intense, almost hungry stare before passing her the bottle of wine he'd brought, along with a Tupperware container of rolls. As he did, he murmured softly, "You look great, Annie."

She waited for a second to feel something like a tug in her gut, to register the blush on her face. Even though she and Jeff always insisted they were just friends, they still sometimes got lost in abstract possibilities with each other. This felt suspiciously like one of those abstractions, and she prepared to find herself swept away in a classic Jeff and Annie Moment. Except it never came. No swoop of butterflies in her stomach, no offering Jeff a demure, doe-eyed gaze, no nothing.

Instead, Annie answered Jeff's heartfelt, "You look great," with a breezy, "Thanks, I know," before taking the wine and rolls into the kitchen to store them with the rest of the food and beverages.

Jeff stayed frozen in the doorway for a minute, as if he'd glitched out, and Annie realized what was wrong, what she'd forgotten to do.

"Hey, Abed, would you mind taking Jeff's coat and putting it with the others on my bed?" she asked from the kitchen as she poured herself a glass of wine.

"Of course, where are my manners?" he asked rhetorically before turning out his pockets. "Ah, here they are," he commented triumphantly, holding up nothing and pretending to inspect it.

"If you'll just hand that to me, Jeff," Abed nodded at his jacket. Jeff shrugged it off and proffered it to Abed while wearing a half-frown, not even bothering to comment on his lame pun. Instead, confusion marred Jeff's face, like he was following a different script than the rest of his friends.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us in this year's newest holiday celebration at Casa Trobedison. Hope you're all hungry!" Troy welcomed their guests once they'd all congregated in the living room. "We will be implementing a help yourself, buffet style service in the kitchen, with an Asian chicken meatball and broccoli entree, plus plenty of vegetarian sides," he announced, smiling at Britta's quiet claps of approval. "But first…" a wide grin overtook his face. "Who wants some no-no juice?"

Annie's peal of laughter rang out loudly as she raised her mostly full wine goblet and called back, "I'm already streets ahead, Troy!"

" _And to think I was annoyed at Abed when he initially proposed this idea,"_ Annie thought happily to herself as she took a sip and hummed in approval at the delightful flavor.

**

To Annie's slight amazement, most of the food she and the boys made had turned out well. The meatballs were the tiniest bit dry, and she usually preferred her stuffing to be a bit crispier around the edges, but all things considered, it could have been much worse. The green beans they prepared had retained a nice, lemony tang from the juice they'd squeezed onto them last night. Britta's homemade mashed potatoes and Shirley's double chocolate chunk cookies were delicious, as well.

Following a brief siesta after dinner-everyone had come down with a severe case of the itis-they all played Catchphrase for a while, followed by some rounds of Cards Against Humanity, before Britta, Jeff, and Shirley took their leave.

"Thank you for having all of us over, you three!" Shirley trilled as she left.

"Seriously, guys, this was great," Britta chimed in, and Jeff added, "We'll have to add this to our weird Greendale traditions. And you guys did a hell of a job with making most of the dinner."

"Thanks," Abed, Troy, and Annie called as they saw their friends out. When they waved their final goodbyes to Jeff and Britta and shut the door, Annie registered a certain sense of domesticity that she'd always felt when her parents had their family over for Hanukkah, when the night came to a close and her mom leaned against her dad and he wrapped an arm around her.

It was something in the contented sighs that she, Troy, and Abed all released as the apartment was theirs and theirs alone once again, in the easy, quiet way they cleaned up the dessert plates and wine glasses together. And that comfort, plus the two glasses of Riesling she'd had with dinner, prompted Annie to initiate a somewhat risky turn of a conversation (even if, between playing Mario Kart and GTA IV, she'd gotten pretty adept at navigating dangerous traffic and high-stakes situations).

She asked, without preamble, "How...how are you guys both single?"

Troy and Abed glanced at each other, sharing some silent conversation before Abed stated, "Expand on that, please."

"I just mean, you both clean up well, you both know your way around a kitchen, you're both hilarious and sweet." Annie shrugged and willed herself to believe the twin spots of color in her cheeks were just from the wine. "I guess I'm just surprised neither one of you has gone on so much as a date since I've moved in."

Abed gave a herky-jerky shrug in response. "It's been a busy year between school and work. And I've found I'm not really a fan of casual, one or two episode romantic entanglements."

Troy replied, "Just haven't found a girl out there for me, I guess. But on the other hand, I haven't looked that hard, either. Like Abed said, free time for dating has been pretty slim."

Abed then responded to Annie, in that analytical tone of his, "We could ponder the same thing for you, Annie. You're certainly attractive, smart, and warm, and you have a good sense of humor-all positive traits the average male at Greendale could appreciate. So, to ask in-kind, how are _you_ single?"

" _Because I'm falling for you and your best friend, dammit!"_ she thought loudly, in a surge of frustration, before answering neutrally, "That experience with Derek last month just put me off the dating scene for now, I guess. And it's difficult to strike up a relationship between Thanksgiving and Christmas with everyone working their tails off."

"So then, you wouldn't be opposed to starting something after Christmas, or after the winter break?" Abed pressed her.

"I suppose not," Annie responded diplomatically.

"Interesting," Abed noted before Troy added, "If you ever want us to conduct a recon and intel operation on a person of interest, just say the word. We're always looking for a reason to use binoculars and walkie-talkies."

Annie bit the insides of her cheeks to avoid cracking up at the mental image of Troy and Abed battling in a hilarious Spy vs. Spy scenario as they both played the unwitting objects of her affection and tracked each other's actions and whereabouts.

" _Dreamatorium idea?"_ a tiny part of her brain whispered before she squashed it down.

" _No. If I'm ever going to do this, it has to be outside of any sort of play-acting realm,"_ she decided before responding to Troy, "Thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to let you both know if I ever need to use it."

"We'll be here," Troy replied with a grin before Abed suggested, "Let's check out Cougar Town once we finish cleaning. We could rewatch the winesgiving episode from last season."

**

Thankfully, the week before the school's official Thanksgiving break passed without incident-well, besides the usual awkward Edison family Thanksgiving dinner, but Annie was used to it by now. She stayed at home for a couple of nights and caught up with her parents before returning to the comfy confines of Casa Trobedison on Black Friday. With Troy and Abed both staying with their families until Saturday afternoon, she decided to take a trip over to the library. She wanted to check out some introduction to forensics textbooks to gauge her interest in the field beyond the short informational blurbs Greendale offered in course catalogues.

Unfortunately, Greendale's lack of organization and criminal misuse of the Dewey Decimal System made finding any resources a lot more challenging than it needed to be. Annie had found a couple of texts to start, but was so focused on examining the descriptions of books along the shelves and above the stacks that she accidentally ran smack into Dean Pelton, sending both of them and their respective armfuls of reading materials tumbling to the ground.

"Sorry, Dean," Annie apologized as she rubbed her knee. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, Annie. This is hardly the worst library collision I've dean in my day," he joked. "And a little hallway jostle is always a nice way to add some noise to such a quiet place over a school break, don't you agree?"

"I suppose, yes," she answered, more to humor him than anything else as they gathered up their texts.

"Well, I'm sure I'll be seeing you and your friends around next week after the break. Though hopefully not in this context. Unless it's with Jeffrey," he muttered with a roguish grin. "Then all bets are off."

"Yep," Annie nodded, walking away as quickly as she could after he said goodbye to her. As she did, she realized she'd accidentally collected a third book. She turned back to call, "Dean Pelton, you forgot this," but he'd already vanished around a corner and out of the library, off to do whatever it was he did.

She was planning to return the mystery book to the front desk and then start reading _A Collegiate Introduction to Forensics: Third Edition_ in the quiet of one of the library's carousels when she glanced at its front cover.

" _The Beginner's Guide to Polyamory: Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Too Afraid To Ask,"_ she whispered to herself.

Annie's pulse skyrocketed and she glanced wildly around the library as if she'd come into possession of some horribly taboo contraband. However, there were only a handful of other students around, and they were all engaged in their own projects or readings.

 _"Surely, it couldn't hurt to take a teensy, tiny look at this,"_ she thought as she crept stealthily to one of the back carousels, where interaction with other library patrons would be even more limited. She quietly set the book down on the table, along with her chosen forensics textbooks, and flipped open to the table of contents.

She skimmed the first chapter, titled, "What is Polyamory? A Modern Definition for the Modern World," and glanced over the "Ethical Polyamory" subsection, then switched gears to her real reason for visiting the library. She'd just started reading over 21st century careers and applications of forensic science when she heard someone behind her pipe up, "Annie?"

"Britta!" she stammered, fumbling with her forensics book and cursing that she hadn't hidden the polyamory one away in her backpack. "What are you doing here?" Annie tossed her forensics book down on the table with a loud _thump_ , hoping it would obscure the title of the dean's book she'd borrowed.

"I had a psych paper I needed to work on, but I wasn't making any progress at home, so I decided to power through in the computer lab." She turned and nodded behind her. "I'm just about done, but I wanted to see if there's a book here that one of my sources referenced." She frowned. "Are you ok? You seem jumpy. Did you accidentally get a regular coffee from the cafe instead of decaf?"

"No, I'm just, um, reading about forensics. Might switch my major because I don't think I like hospital administration at all, but it seemed like a stable career back when I was getting out of rehab, but before I'd really figured out what I wanted to do with my life," Annie babbled.

"Oookay…" Britta's frown stayed stuck on her face. "Did something freak you out? Because I've never known you to toss a book away like that." She stepped over Annie's shoulder to glance at it. As she moved to pick it up, Annie's frantic commands to stop her didn't transfer properly from her brain to her body, and she sat frozen.

Britta glanced at the title underneath the forensics book and gave the merest hint of a smirk. "Well, well, well, Annie Edison. What have we here?"

"I'm not reading that, like, for me!" she squeaked. "It's...it's for a class."

Britta quirked an eyebrow up at her. "Interesting. You think I'd remember seeing or hearing you discuss Polyamory 101 before the end of the semester," she deadpanned.

Annie sighed. "Ok. Fine. It's for me. And…"

" _Screw it,"_ she decided. _"You were going to have to share this with someone eventually."_

Before she did, though, she solemnly revealed, "I have something to tell you. And it can't. go. anywhere. No telling the group."

Britta pulled an imaginary zipper across her lips. "You got it, Annie."

Annie shook her head and grabbed Britta's arm insistently. "No. I mean, like, you can't even tell _Jeff_."

Britta's eyebrows jumped back up. "Shit, this _is_ serious." She commandeered a chair from a nearby empty table and pulled it up to settle across from Annie.

"Ok," Britta promised. "My lips are sealed, I swear, even against Jeff. Pinky promise."

The small gesture helped Annie feel a tiny bit more at ease as she murmured, quietly, "I think…no, I know," she corrected herself, speaking more to herself than to Britta; she felt more sure of this than she had of anything in a while.

Finally, she confessed, "I like Troy. And Abed. And I want to date both of them."

**

She half-expected Britta to gasp, or maybe give a stifled shout of surprise.

She didn't expect her to clap a hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter.

"This isn't some _joke_ , Britta!" Annie seethed. "I mean it!"

Still shaking with silent giggles, Britta held up a finger, then choked out, "I'm sorry, gimme a second."

She got control of herself and sighed. "Ok. I'm good. And I'm sorry, again. It's just, remember back when you were moving in with them?"

Annie nodded, and Britta continued gleefully, "And I said, you know, it wouldn't be a crime against humanity to get involved with your roommates the way Shirley suggested it would be? But you were _so insistent_ that it would _never_ happen…"

Annie muttered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, look where we are now, ha ha. Are you done?" she demanded.

"One more second of self-congratulatory gloating and…there we go," Britta nodded, the remnants of a victorious smirk still on her face. "Ok. I'm all set. So, you want to start a polyamorous relationship with Troy and Abed," she stated candidly, lowering her voice after Annie hissed, "Keep it down!"

"Or you want to start a polyamorous relationship with Abed and Troy," Britta whispered, adjusting her volume. "However you want to arrange their two names, I don't know if that's part of some power dynamic between them or not."

"You don't sound as surprised about this as I thought you might," Annie frowned.

"Oh, Annie, my sweet summer child," Britta sighed. "I got invited to partake in a couple of throuples in New York, but the energy was super weird in both cases, so I didn't," she shrugged.

Seeing Annie's annoyance come to fruition in a massive eye roll, Britta hurried along, noting, "Anyway, for your situation specifically, let's just say, your news is much less of a shock to me after friendsgiving."

"What do you mean? You were, like, expecting this, somehow?" Annie sputtered.

"No, no, not at all," Britta assured her. "I'm just saying, when we came over…" she paused. "I'm not sure of the best way to put this. But you know the difference in how a home feels when it's inhabited by a couple versus by a single person, or by a group of roommates who only tolerate each other?"

"Sure, I guess," Annie shrugged.

"Your place felt more like a couple's home. Except, obviously, with three people. And you and Troy and Abed are so touchy-feely. Not in, like, a weird way," she added. "But it's obvious you're all super comfortable around each other and it gives off this sense that you've been happily living together for years rather than a couple of months."

Annie replayed, in her mind, the many light touches they'd all traded that day, the way Abed brushed past her to get water refills for Jeff and Shirley or how she and Troy celebrated winning a round of Catchphrase with a wiggly hip bump. "I can agree with that," Annie quietly conceded.

"Plus, there was...God, I might gag while saying this, but...I thought you and Jeff were going to have one of your weird little star-crossed lovers moments," Britta went on, giving a small shudder. "When he said you looked great, just after we arrived. And you completely missed it, or ignored it. Which, first of all, I loved the confidence, because you looked fierce as fuck in that dress." Annie blushed at the compliment as Britta carried on, "But second, it made me think that maybe there was someone else you were interested in. And you stole a couple of these little peeks at Troy and Abed during the night and I thought that, maybe, you were noticing how attractive they are when they dress up some."

"Guilty as charged," Annie admitted. "I didn't realize I was quite so transparent."

"Hello, psych major," Britta pointed at herself. "Reading people is kinda my thing. Besides, I didn't draw all this out from one night. It's ridiculously obvious that you, Abed, and Troy really care about each other a lot. So, um, if this isn't too personal...what's your plan?"

"I don't really have one at the moment," Annie confided. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Troy and Abed don't like me that way, so…" she aimed for a nonchalant shrug, but the movement came off wooden.

"Seriously?" Britta asked, frowning.

"Yeah."

"Annie, Annie, Annie," Britta sighed. "They _love_ you. Granted, I don't know if it's romantic, per se, or if they're even exactly aware of it, but…" Britta paused, again searching for the right words. "You know how, when the boys started getting up to hijinks together and hanging out a lot more part-way through freshman year, we basically accepted, at some point, that they're Troy and Abed? That you don't get one without the other?"

"Sure," Annie nodded.

"You're part of that entity now. And it's not like Troy and Abed...and Annie, with you just there as an afterthought or just another roommate to make rent cheaper. It's Troy and Abed and Annie," Britta explained. "The rest of us have watched that play out. And I'm pretty sure you've felt it."

She has. More times than she can count. During their pilot episode. During their Dreamatorium adventures. On her first day of officially living with them. When they practically had a date at their dining room table after her own mess of an outing with some guy who couldn't measure up to Abed or Troy. When they went to the theme park. And, as Britta had astutely pointed out, when they hosted friendsgiving.

Annie felt herself nodding, and Britta's small smile grew wider at her response.

"I'm not going to pretend like I know what you should do," Britta told her gently. "And I get why you're afraid to tell Abed and Troy how you feel. I mean, I've made a fool of myself for Jeff on more occasions than I want to remember. But, despite your fears, Annie, you can't predict what they're going to say about this idea unless they hear it. And they're still going to be your friends, no matter what happens, I know that. We all do."

She blinked tears out of her eyes and pulled Britta in for a tight hug. "Thank you, Britta," she whispered. "I'm...I'm going to tell them. After the semester, though," she amended. "We're all too busy right now for that potential emotional bombshell."

Britta grinned at her. "I'm proud of you, kiddo."

"Kiddo?" Annie grimaced. "When did you turn into Jeff?"

"Sorry, sorry, you know I suck at routine female bonding rituals, let alone more intense ones," Britta complained, getting a laugh from Annie. "Especially since it's not like I planned to have this big, long conversation about you pursuing a polyamorous relationship with your roommates."

"That's still weird to hear out loud," Annie commented. "And I didn't plan to get that polyamory book at all, so, chalk it up to fate, or chance, or whatever."

Britta cocked her head to the side. "Really?"

"Nope." Annie quickly relayed the story of how she'd run into Dean Pelton, causing Britta to crack up.

"That is one hell of a wild ride," she remarked. "I gotta get going, but, if you want to talk about this any more, you can always text or call me, you know."

"Thanks, Britta. For everything," Annie beamed.

Britta glanced back at her and deadpanned, "Whaddaya mean, Annie?" She winked and called back, "Your secret's safe with me."

Annie thought she might suffer from even more acute anxiety now that she'd spoken this particular truth into the universe, but instead, something that vaguely resembled relief settled into her stomach as she started planning when, and how, she could share her feelings with her two best friends.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first bit of this chapter was 20% me looking for a reasonable way to set the scene around Christmas/Greendale’s winter break and 80% wish fulfillment because I would’ve loved to see Alison Brie rap during the show, rather than just in outtakes. Also, the way they featured Annie in Regional Holiday Music was really cringe-y, so...yeah. Figured I could rewrite that pretty easily.

" _Today's a good day,"_ Troy thought to himself as he smiled at his ham, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. _"The semester is just about over, and Abed and I didn't have to stay up past 12:30 to study for our exams or finish any of our final projects at 2 in the morning like we did during every other finals crunch."_

He silently thanked Annie for improving their study habits to help stave off undue stress as he took his first bite of the sandwich and happily realized, _"And Abed, Annie, and I will have at least a couple weeks' worth of time to just relax together before the spring semester starts up in mid-January."_

He didn't even say, _"What could go wrong?"_ in his head, not wanting to jinx it, but then Abed came in, scatting and humming, before greeting him with a jovial, "Merry Christmas, Troy."

"Abed, you look gleeful," Troy answered with a hint of trepidation in his voice, slowly lowering his sandwich down to his plate.

"Troy, don't you think it might actually be _fun_ doing this Christmas pageant for the glee club?" he asked.

"Abed, we _hate_ the glee club," Troy rejoined flatly.

"Yeah," he responded, looking a bit downcast before commenting, "I guess I just like liking things."

" _Well, then, I guess I just like liking you and Annie,"_ Troy randomly thought to himself.

He'd been making such observations more and more lately, and he'd had to come up with some pretty interesting lies to cover for his unexpected yelps as he stumbled on semi-earth-shattering realizations about his two best friends and roommates. Neither Annie nor Abed seemed to believe him when he'd claimed, a couple of weeks ago, that a random shriek was for mourning the lost consciousness of his Madden Create-A-Player cornerback after he'd sustained a grade 3 concussion in a preseason game. Lately, he'd been able to hold his responses more in check. Troy saw this as good, in a way, to avoid arousing suspicion, but also terrifying, because it meant he was getting more used to the concept of…

He paused his thoughts on that emotionally fraught subject, as Abed's quiet turn back toward the blanket fort suggested he was a bit crestfallen at Troy's lack of enthusiasm for the Christmas pageant.

"Abed," Troy called softly. "Look, you _know_ I'd do anything you did, but…" he sighed. "I'm a Jehovah's Witness. We're not supposed to celebrate Christmas."

"I've been thinking about that. I may have a loophole," Abed answered, with a quietly excited air.

He continued, speaking with his hands as he delved into his explanation, "What if you were a Jehovah's Witness that was merely _pretending_ to be into Christmas? Gathering clues and blending in to take down the holidays from within?"

Troy cocked his head to the side, contemplating Abed's suggestion of deception before saying slowly, "You mean like a spy, investigating?"

When Abed nodded in approval of Troy's cottoning on to his plan, he asked further, "Making it seem like I'm celebrating, when actually, I'm infiltrating Santa's operation?"

"Yoip!" Abed confirmed just before they breached their blanket fort together and started rapping about the holidays.

The airhorn had just gone off in the background again as they jointly pledged, _"We have to save Christmas to save our friends!"_ when Annie popped her head in the fort's entrance.

"Hey, guys." She smiled and nodded at their makeshift microphones. "Rapping?"

"Yep! Wanna join us?" Abed offered his microphone (AKA the lamp in the blanket fort) to her.

"Totally!" Annie's face lit up for a second, and she nearly stepped into the fort before stopping herself.

"Wait," she realized, her eyebrows crinkling with distrust. "You guys never let me rap with you."

"Well, we're gonna need all hands on deck if we're gonna go to _regionals_ ," Troy answered smartly, wearing the oversized, rictus-y grin of an oily, 1970s vacuum cleaner salesman.

Annie's face fell and then froze in terror. "Cool," she replied wildly, her voice jumping an octave as she backed up. "I just need to...study, though, in my room, so...have fun!"

She was about to yank the entrance to the fort shut when Abed quickly interrupted. "You know, Annie, this is a whole group bit. You're getting co-opted into the holiday glee one way or the other, so you may as well join us now."

She set her jaw and pouted in a way that Troy found absolutely adorable. "Why should I believe you?" she sniffed.

"Because otherwise the entire episode collapses, and that would make for a lame season finale," Abed answered. "And because your other option for glee club induction is based on…" he paused dramatically before whispering, "a predictable trope."

Annie and Troy both gasped in horror at his proclamation.

"What sort of predictable trope?" Annie asked nervously, edging a little closer to the fort.

"Oh, you know, nothing too bad. It just involves a slutty Mrs. Claus costume and downplaying your intelligence," Abed casually noted.

Annie still tried valiantly to resist the glee club's insidious power. "You're lying!" she insisted, but her voice shook.

"You're right, Annie. Hyper-sexualizing you and dumbing you down _totally_ doesn't sound like something that would happen at Greendale," Troy answered with a hearty grin and a thumbs up.

Annie grimaced and rolled her eyes. "Fine. If I'm getting sucked into this glee racket no matter what, I'd rather do it with you two, if the rapping option is still on the table."

"Absolutely!" Troy and Abed agreed, beckoning Annie into the fort.

"You good? Ready to go?" Troy asked her after Abed passed her his microphone.

She held a breath for a second and then blew it out. "Sure. Let's do this."

"Cool cool cool," Abed commented. He and Troy counted down, "Three...two...one…" and shouted, in unison, "Bring the beat back!"

Annie co-opted Troy's flow and jumped in immediately, rapping:

_Rollin out with my new music family,_

_Make the holidays merry with a singing spree._

_On the way to regionals and we'll spread the glee,_

_Bet that on my life, or I'm not Annie E._

_We just preparing little ditties for the best Yuletide,_

_Dashing through the snow, on a dope sleigh ride._

_I'm drinking spiked eggnog when it's party time,_

_Gonna stay up late til Santa Claus arrives._

"With presents!" Abed yelled in his role of hype-man as Troy mimed carrying a haul of gifts over his back. He'd expected Annie might be done, but she kept going, looking and sounding in total command of herself:

_We'll bury other singers' dreams inside a hearst,_

_On the regionals stage, gonna do our worst,_

_Hope the competition's ready for a world of hurt,_

_Bout to eat 'em up, call that just desserts._

Troy launched a prodigious fake belch at the end of Annie's "desserts" line, causing her to giggle for a second before she continued, quickening her cadence:

_Cause my rhymes stay fire like a red-hot chili pepper_

_Or a night under a blanket in a festive Christmas sweater._

"Damn!" Troy and Abed murmured in low voices as Annie caught her breath after the rapid-fire delivery before finishing with:

_Let's take our song to the streets and get new glee members,_

_So this December's one to remember._

" _Oh, yeah_ ," Abed rumbled in a flawless Kool Aid man imitation at the close of Annie's rap, and she glowed, clearly pleased with her efforts.

"I think I have a Santa hat in my room from one of our parties last year. I'll go get it and then we can scope out our next victim—err, target," she commented brightly.

"Sure," they answered, both in a bit of a daze as she flashed them a winning smile and ducked out of the fort.

"That was unexpected," Abed observed after a few seconds.

"Yeah," Troy agreed, unable to come up with much more than that at the moment, because who knew Annie Edison could straight-up _spit bars_?

**

As Abed and Annie debated who would be the easiest person in the study group to catch out and lure into the glee club, Troy turned his attention back to his thoughts about their dynamic as a trio. And, more specifically, the growing idea that, just possibly, he wanted to see their collective friendship evolve into something more.

He still couldn't define exactly what he thought could happen between the three of them, though. Dating, maybe? He'd made the mistake of casually Googling "two men one woman relationship" a few days ago. Upon seeing that 90% of the results were porn, he conducted more carefully cultivated searches and found that, yeah, one person could conceivably have a girlfriend _and_ a boyfriend.

The idea of putting Annie and Abed into those categories, of getting even closer to the two of them, both excited and frightened Troy at the same time.

" _On the one hand, they're my best friends, which would seemingly help things between us work in a relationship,"_ he thought. _"On the other hand, they're my best friends, and if it didn't go well, that would suck harder than never getting to name one of my Dreamatorium characters Butts Carlton."_

It had taken him a while to realize his feelings for both Annie and Abed exceeded normal, platonic friendship. He'd freaked out a bit after that one Sunday when Annie's date had gone poorly and he and Abed practically took Annie on a second date—although, since it had been in the apartment, they hadn't _gone_ anywhere, technically, but the point still stood. He tried to tell himself during that next week that he'd just overreacted to being in a kind of date-like setting for the first time in a while, but then it had hit him: he hadn't felt as connected to anyone he'd gone on dates with during his time at Greendale compared to how he felt toward his two best friends.

Since that revelation, Troy had managed to accept his feelings for what they were (even if they were confusing and messy sometimes, or, more accurately, a lot of the time). However, he wasn't exactly sure what to do with them. Words were definitely _not_ his strong suit, and normally, he'd talk to Annie or Abed about the situation he'd found himself in. However, that wasn't possible in this timeline, as Troy hardly wanted to accidentally drop a bombshell of a phrase like, "Hey, Annie, Abed, you're really beautiful and I think I wanna date both of you," into a movie marathon or a Dreamatorium adventure.

" _Well, I'll have some time to mull things over during winter break, after regionals,"_ Troy told himself. One of his favorite parts of living with Abed and Annie was that, while the three of them spent loads of time together, they also respected the occasional need for space. So it wasn't a big deal for one of them to either commit to a solo activity—reading for Annie, film editing or journaling for Abed, and working on puzzles for Troy—for a while or just spend time in their own room (or, in Troy and Abed's case, in their own bunk bed).

"What do you think, Troy?" Abed asked.

"Huh?" Troy inquired eloquently. "Sorry, I was kinda lost in my own head," he admitted sheepishly.

"No problem, I get lost there, too. Or, well, my own head," Abed corrected himself. "Anyway, we were just debating whether Pierce or Jeff would be more susceptible to joining glee club right now."

"If we cut off the head, the body dies," Annie murmured in a murderous tone. "I say we go for Winger."

"True, but if we recruit Pierce, then we outnumber them," Troy reminded her. "And I think Shirley would be an easy get from there."

"In that case, I retract my previous statement. Good thinking, Troy," Annie noted with a Minerva McGonagall-esque sliver of a smile.

"I concur," Abed commented. "Pierce it is. I think we can play to his vanity and get him to join our cause without much trouble."

"Alright," Troy gave a small, determined nod. "Let's go stuff an old man with glee—that didn't come out right."

**

After the mess of the winter pageant (just once, could Greendale find normal teachers who haven't murdered people?), the end of the semester provided a much-needed break. To keep his promise to his dad, Troy emailed the AC Repair School about the possibility of joining their ranks, but he'd received an automated email back saying that all of their faculty would be out of the office until the spring semester, followed by a more personalized one from Vice Dean Laybourne indicating that the two of them would catch up during the first week back on campus. As a result, Troy had absolutely no work to concern himself with until mid-January, though he happily glanced over Abed's scripts when he asked for input and served as a sounding board for Annie's thoughts on switching her major to forensics.

He wasn't sure if it was because he'd actually had to put in significant effort during the whole semester and truly needed to recharge for the first time in college, or if it was because the football season had finally ended, or if it was because he was living with his two best friends, but winter break unfolded like a dream.

Aside from when Annie had shifts at Whole Foods and when Abed took on work-study hours at the library, the three of them fell into a glorious, semi-lazy routine: wake up around 9 and make breakfast, with Troy and Abed introducing Annie to classic morning television fare, such as Recess, Inspector Gadget, or Scooby Doo. The mid-morning often involved quiet reading time, with Abed sometimes filming scenes or editing one of his projects, followed by lunch and video games. Then, the three of them would either play board or card games or potentially share in a Dreamatorium adventure. A little bit more reading time often preceded dinner. More often than not, their nights ended in a cuddled jumble on the couch, under blankets, snacking on popcorn and Christmas candy while they watched movies.

During one such night, they were decked out in their pajamas and watching _Home Alone_ when Annie, who was curled up against Abed, stretched and asked, "Do you guys want to do something special for break? I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this…" she gestured to the three of them snuggled together; it was one of the rare times that Abed had ended up in the middle. "But I was kind of thinking, it would be nice to have a little holiday celebration. Like, just the three of us."

"What do you have in mind?" Abed inquired, tilting his head up from its resting spot on Troy's shoulder.

"Does unofficial Christmas sound like a dumb idea?" she questioned. "Like, just have our own Christmas, moved back a few days after the real one."

Abed glanced at Troy. "As our resident Jehovah's Witness, would that offend your sensibilities?" he asked softly.

The tenderness in Abed's voice took Troy aback so strongly that he needed a second to get his response out. "Not at all. Were you thinking we'd get each other presents, Annie?"

"Yeah," she nodded, grimacing as Harry's skull got blow-torched. "Just one gift per person, nothing over the top. And maybe we could each get one gift that would be, like, for general, shared apartment use."

"Sure," Abed and Troy agreed before Abed suggested, "How about the 27th, 28th, or 29th?"

"Whichever day I'm off works for me," Annie responded. Troy thought he could see her blushing slightly as she explained, "I've never really had a Christmas day like that, where you just relax with the people you...you're close with."

"It sounds nice," Troy murmured as he traced circles in the sleeves of Abed's dark blue hoodie.

"A Casa Trobedison holiday is good with me, too," Abed uttered to both of them through a yawn.

Although he'd seen _Home Alone_ plenty of times before, Troy always loved the slapstick comedy, the physical humor, and Harry and Marv's general buffoonery. Tonight, though, he just couldn't focus on it. Instead, he found his eyes drawn to the rising and falling of Abed's chest against his stomach, to Abed's long, graceful fingers absentmindedly stroking Annie's hair, to the feeling of Annie gently rubbing her foot on his calf every once in a while.

While he wasn't on Abed's level, Troy normally didn't take kindly to distractions when he was watching movies, either.

Except none of what Abed and Annie were doing felt like distractions. Their actions just felt...right.

**

The three of them all made surreptitious shopping trips over the course of the next week before departing to spend a few days at home. While Troy enjoyed his family's standard, uneventful December 25th, he was also looking forward to participating in the brand-new holiday Annie had developed.

He wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but the day starts off like most of them have on break, with the three of them all waking up around 9. He padded out of the blanket fort quietly—it always took Abed an extra couple of minutes to wake up—and it took Troy a second to remember they were having a holiday as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes, but then Annie lit up when she saw him, whispered, "Merry unofficial Christmas, Troy!" and stepped forward for a big hug.

Once Abed was awake, they baked up cinnamon rolls as a treat, and Annie put on She and Him for some easy-listening Christmas music.

"I think it's time for presents!" she announced with a smile, and everyone retreated to their separate living areas to retrieve their gifts.

"How do we do this, exactly?" Troy asked. "Just all swap at once, or go one at a time?"

"Typically, opening presents one person at a time allows for a stronger emotional impact. However, it can be used as a prank in Christmas comedies if one person is receiving lame gifts, or if one person receives a disproportionate number of presents compared to another," Abed noted. "As the latter two scenarios don't apply here, I think it would be an appropriate choice."

"Trade you guys, then," Annie commented, holding out her two gifts for them. To no one's surprise, Troy and Abed had opted for gift bags over using wrapping paper.

"Remind me to teach you both how to wrap presents before next year," Annie laughed. "There's something really satisfying about doing it well. Plus you get that satisfying sound of ripping into the paper."

"Well, no time like the present," Abed shrugged, giving a short bark of laughter at his unintentional pun before tearing into Annie's gift. "Ooh, a DVD of the Oral History of Independent International Film Festivals, 1995-Present. Cool cool cool. Thank you, Annie."

Troy gaped at her. "You found a DVD Abed doesn't already own, and it's one he actually wants?"

"I got some help from the AV Club in exchange for giving them a long list of dating tips," she replied cheerfully.

"And an exhaustive book of Kickpuncher's antics behind the scenes that were already behind the scenes! Twice removed from the movies themselves while still informing some of their hilariously awful choices!" Abed exclaimed as he opened Troy's gift bag. He quickly shared a handshake with him. "Also cool cool cool. Great selection, Troy."

"Thanks, buddy," Troy grinned, and while he didn't have a Grinch heart, he felt a surge of holiday cheer, plus a little pride, at Abed's excitement over his present.

"Annie, do you want to go next?" Abed asked, tilting his head up at her. "You're sort of fidgeting with your gift bags."

She blushed a dashing shade of scarlet that nearly matched her hoodie and muttered, "Yes," guiltily before digging into the first one.

"A planner and mini desk calendar for the upcoming year?" she asked before beaming, "This is perfect, Abed! Thank you!"

She quickly turned her attention to Troy's bag and gave a gasp of delight at its contents. "A knitting kit for beginners! You remembered I said I wanted to try my hand at knitting when I saw it offered!"

"It's nothing," Troy murmured, a little embarrassed, but also pleased at her effusive reaction, just as he'd been when Abed had opened his gift. "My mom helped pick it out at JoAnn Fabrics and she said that one in particular is good as a starter pack. You should really thank her more than me."

"Either way, thank you so much!" she responded warmly before urging him, "Your turn to open and then we can get to the apartment-wide gifts."

"Ok," Troy nodded as he yanked Abed's present free of tissue paper.

" _Dude._ Where did you get this?" he gasped.

"Internet," Abed replied simply.

"Show me where on the Internet you found a freaking 500-piece Reading Rainbow puzzle, because I need to go there!" Troy shouted, putting the box down to give Abed a quick handshake before opening Annie's present.

"I know it's not quite as good as a Reading Rainbow puzzle," she confessed as he unwrapped it, "but…"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, grinning as he held up a $20 Dick's Sporting Goods gift card and a book on quirky Denver history. "Annie, these are awesome!" Something fell out of the book as he picked it up. "What's this?"

"I included a couple of pages with random historical events from Greendale that I scrounged up from old editions of the student newspaper. Like, in 2005, the macaroni and cheese in the cafeteria gave everyone food poisoning and the students overwhelmed a local hospital." Annie wrinkled her nose at the anecdote.

"Gross," Troy and Abed commented, in an impressed sort of way.

"I figured you guys could use the book for today in history type segments of your show, so it's kind of a gift for both of you," Annie noted.

"No, it's not," Troy answered.

"What do you mean?" Annie frowned.

Abed gave a satisfied smile. "Awesome, we didn't give anything away before now."

"Give any _what_ away?" Annie asked slowly, her suspicion and confusion both mounting.

"We have sort of a dual apartment gift for you, besides the ones we picked out individually, and this book actually goes perfectly with it," Troy explained.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," Annie smiled. "Still a little confused, though."

Abed finally chimed in, "We're inviting you to become a co-host of…" he and Troy harmonized together, "Troy and Abed in the Morning!"

Annie gasped and her jaw dropped for a second before she squealed, "Oh my God, you guys, really?"

"Yep," they confirmed.

"Well, we'll have to rework the title before you join us," Abed amended. "And get you your own official coffee mug."

"We might still do shows just by ourselves, once in a while," Troy added. "But that would probably be when you're out. We realized it felt weird to only have you on as a guest here and there when you're nearly always around while we're filming," he continued.

"Plus, we like doing pretty much everything with you, and you've clearly enjoyed being on the show, so." Abed shrugged easily, as if the new arrangement made all the sense in the world, and, well, it did.

Something clicked in Troy's brain as it registered Abed's explanation. It made him recall how, back in September, during the pilot episode that preceded Annie's official move, he'd realized his and Abed's playtime could expand, counting up from _one, two_ to _one, two, three._

"This is the best unofficial Christmas present _ever_!" Annie squealed again just before she got off the couch to wrap Troy and Abed in a group hug.

And as Troy and Abed slid closer together on the couch to squeeze in for Annie's hug, it hits him.

That they're perfect like this, that everything's been seemingly building to this for them: _one, two, three._

Troy registers, not the uncertainty or confusion that's plagued so many of his thoughts about entering a relationship with his two best friends, but peace. He's cool with the possibility of figuring out how the three of them could start a relationship (even though it's still definitely scary).

" _Now to just figure out how and when to share this with Annie and Abed,"_ he thought.

**

As their group hug ended, he noticed a tiny tear at the corner of Annie's left eye, and Abed spotted it, too. "Are you ok, Annie? Is something upsetting you?" he asked gently.

"No, Abed," she laughed lightly, smiling as she wiped it away, and Troy wondered, not for the first time, how he'd failed to appreciate her beauty for so long. "It's a happy tear. I'm just so…" she shook her head. "This has just been even better than I thought it would be," she finished her sentence, swallowing thickly and turning away to retrieve her final present.

"Here, since you guys gave me an apartment gift, I figured it's fair we open mine, next," she explained.

"Can we unwrap it together?" Troy asked suddenly. It's the sort of thing that should strike him as lame, or corny, but it feels right in the moment. He's struck by their differing methods—he yanks haphazardly at any spot of wrapping paper that seems as if it will give way, whereas Abed methodically unseals the tape from the folded-in spaces. Annie does this, too, but then rips the paper with destructive glee.

After a minute, they got the box opened to reveal...another box.

"The double box trick," Abed commented. "For added subterfuge and to reduce the odds of us simply guessing the present before we actually see it. Well done, Annie."

She blushed and murmured an appreciative, "Thanks."

They lifted the lid off of the shoebox inside the larger parcel, like a Russian nesting doll, to find…

"You bought Dishonored?" Abed and Troy chorused in amazement.

"You guys haven't even seen the best part yet," Annie grinned as she held it up so they could take a better look at it.

"It's the special edition with DLC," Abed whispered in an awed tone.

"That only came out a few weeks ago!" Troy gasped. "There's no way this was within our gift-giving limit, Annie."

"It wasn't," she answered with a smile. "But I wanted to play, too, after watching some of the trailers with you and Abed. And you guys are totally worth it."

Abed's gift for everyone—a cookbook that featured five-minute, five-ingredient recipes—was surprisingly practical, whereas Troy's—a book of writing prompts that they could use for creating scenarios in the Dreamatorium—was not, but the gifts would undoubtedly be appreciated by all members of Casa Trobedison.

As the three of them settled in with their various gifts in the living room—Abed watching his new DVD, Annie starting a rudimentary knitting pattern, and Troy establishing the border of his new puzzle—with Zooey Deschanel softly singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" in the background, an easy sense of contentment settled over Troy, like the snow falling outside their apartment's window.

**

The next day, Troy decided to hit the gym at Greendale. While he'd gotten much more comfortable at the thought of approaching Abed and Annie with the idea of getting into a relationship together—or at least, seeing how they reacted to the idea—he still wanted to empty his head, and locking in for an intense half-hour bike ride, followed by using free weights for curls and chest presses, did the trick.

Until he unexpectedly ran into Shirley on his way out.

"Hi, Troy!" she greeted him brightly. "Have a nice, um, day with your family?"

"Yeah, and you?" he asked.

"Oh, it was lovely, thanks for asking," she replied, and with that, she was off on a solid ten-minute explanation of every last part of her Christmas day before she realized, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm keeping you here, and I'm sure you want to get home after working out. I want to pre-burn calories before Jeff's party," she explained, saving him the awkwardness of asking; he'd never known her to be a gym-goer before.

"Oh, right, his New Year's Eve shindig," he remembered, and grinned to himself; it had been a while since he'd been able to fit the word "shindig" into a normal conversation.

"Yep, I'll see you, Abed, and Annie there," Shirley nodded, returning his grin with a smile of her own.

Her mention of their names brought Troy's thoughts about them rushing back into his head, and before he could stop himself, he asked, "Shirley? When you were getting back together with Andre, were you scared?"

She frowned for a second, clearly thrown by his unexpected query, but then answered, "Scared? Yeah! I was petrified!"

"So then, why'd you do it? Or how?" he asked, hoping for a somewhat useful answer.

"Because I knew living without ever taking that risk would be worse than whatever happened after I did. Is there a woman in your life that's got you thinking this way, Troy?" she asked, clearly interested.

" _Yeah. Plus a dude, too,"_ he thought, but he wasn't sharing _that_ nugget of information with Shirley, so he simply replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"Anyone I know?"

He froze for a second and then invented, based on their last Get Smart adventure in the Dreamatorium, "No, she...she works in government."

"Ah. Well, she seems mighty important to you, so you might want to share how you feel sooner rather than later," Shirley suggested.

He nearly laughed to himself, thinking, _"You don't know the half of it, Shirley,"_ before replying, "I'll do that."

And though Troy said it, in part, as a way to close their conversation (he really _did_ need to get home and shower) he found that he meant it, too.


	9. Chapter 9

Abed realized, upon reviewing his mental snapshots of the past few days of winter break, as well as his previous observations, that he needed some expert assistance on a rather delicate matter.

That delicate matter being, of course, how to effectively share his feelings with Troy and Annie aloud, as himself, as opposed to just through actions, or when they were play-acting in the half-reality, half-fantasy realm of the Dreamatorium.

Their unofficial Christmas celebration and their time together during winter break as a whole had demonstrated, at least to Abed, that they were rapidly nearing a tipping point in their evolving (and increasingly intimate) relationship as a trio, and he'd rather prepare for that moment as much as possible than be caught unawares. Even if that preparation meant verbalizing his feelings toward his two best friends with someone else and letting them exist outside of his own headspace.

Abed texted Jeff before he could lose his nerve. _Have you ever celebrated New Year's Eve Eve before?_

Jeff's concise and somewhat befuddled response was expected. _No?_

After conducting extensive research of bars in the area, looking for one that was similar to L Street, Abed replied, _You'll get your chance this year. Meet me at Local Kitchen and Brewery on the 30th._ He knew Jeff wasn't always one for being told what to do, but if it involved drinking, he was much more amenable. For added incentive, Abed added to his message, _They've got an expansive scotch and whiskey list. Does 8:30 work for you?_

Jeff replied, _Sure._

With that plan settled, Abed murmured, "Cool cool cool," as he and Annie settled in on the couch to watch Troy start sneaking his way through the second level of Dishonored.

**

" _This is quite the season 1 reference,"_ Abed thought appreciatively as he sipped his Maker's Mark on the rocks. _"Though I'm not planning to get anywhere near as hammered as Jeff did when he drunk dialed Britta."_ Both his roommates had found it a bit odd, to say the least, that he and Jeff were going to spend part of the night out as drinking buddies. He'd felt a little guilty engaging in subterfuge, saying that Jeff had invited him out when it had been the other way round, but the truth—telling Troy and Annie, "I care about you two more than I can explain, but let's start with, I think I want to be romantically involved with both of you"—wasn't really an option at all, at the moment. Though Abed had studied the possibilities from several angles, he felt that having an outsider's perspective could help (a) confirm that he wasn't misreading his best friends' behavior or misinterpreting his own feelings and (b) provide valuable feedback for how he might go about broaching the topic of starting a three-person relationship.

Fortunately, Jeff arrived only a tad fashionably late and in good spirits. Wanting to extend said positivity, Abed greeted him with a quick, "Merry New Year's Eve Eve, Jeff. Glad you could make it here tonight. Your first drink's on me."

"Well, Merry New Year's Eve Eve indeed, then," Jeff grinned as he settled onto the bar stool next to Abed. Upon receiving his own whiskey neat, he clinked glasses with Abed. "Cheers, man." After taking his first sip and smacking his lips in satisfaction, Jeff inquired, "Having a good break?"

A montage of memories flashed through Abed's mind at Jeff's question: the wonderfully lazy mornings spent reading or watching shows with Annie and Troy; the one afternoon they'd gone skating at one of the outdoor rinks in the area, with a gentle dusting of snow and the instrumentals from A Charlie Brown Christmas providing a perfect backdrop to Troy's graceful gliding across the ice, to the delightful sight of Annie's cheeks flushing pink in the cold weather, to the three of them holding mittened hands and nearly all going for a spill as they'd tried to navigate around an amorous couple on the rink; the movie nights spent curled up in close quarters on the couch; and, most of all, the sense that the three of them had developed a near-telepathic link, based on the presents they'd gotten one another for their unofficial Christmas.

"It's been...relaxing," Abed replied after a minute. "How about yours?"

He'd gotten better at not monopolizing conversations, in part because he recognized it was considered a social faux-pas, but also thanks to simply living with Annie and Troy. They were both great conversationalists in general, and it was also nice to have friends who would, for the most part, happily entertain questions like, "Would you rather live with Kevin James' character from King of Queens or Paul Blart: Mall Cop?"

(The fact that Annie had subtly suggested she'd poison either character and Troy had hinted he'd easily find a way to frame an idiot like Paul Blart for a crime also confirmed they weren't lacking in taste as far as television and cinema preferences went.)

After a few rounds of back and forth, give and take, plus an order of a second drink for each of them, Abed felt he'd engaged in sufficient socializing to approach the heart of his reason for inviting Jeff out. "So, Jeff," he began after taking a sip of his beverage. "In addition to celebrating New Year's Eve Eve—a nice preamble to your festivities tomorrow—I was wondering if I could get your assistance in processing an interpersonal situation."

A flicker of a frown crossed Jeff's face. "Don't you usually go to Troy for help with reacting to those, Abed?"

"Normally, yes," he affirmed. "But this particular scenario involves Troy directly."

Jeff's skepticism didn't fade. "Is it a roommate thing?"

Abed considered the question for a second. "Yes and no." After reading the mounting frustration in Jeff's countenance, he forged ahead and decided to go for the direct approach. "Based on several data points, observations, and personal experience, I believe I'm harboring romantic feelings for both Troy and Annie. I'm working out the best way to share this information without upsetting our apartment's ecosystem, plus our general relationship as a trio of roommates slash best friends. After some analysis, I felt like you'd be the most helpful in terms of discussing that process."

Jeff rubbed the back of his neck. "And here I thought you inviting me for New Year's Eve Eve drinks would be the strangest part of the night." He squinted at Abed for a second, then hesitantly went on, "I swear I'm not trying to be a dick, but, just to confirm...this isn't, like, part of a comedy bit or a film idea or something?"

Abed shook his head vehemently enough that Jeff nodded without him even saying "No."

"Alright, then," Jeff answered after taking another sip of his whiskey. "So, to get my head around this. You're saying you want to date both Troy and Annie? Do you think they'd also be open dating each other?"

"Yes to the first question. As for the second one, I'm pretty sure they would be," Abed confirmed. "It's a long story, but the consistent strengthening of our collective relationships has made me believe this development is, if not an inevitability, then certainly a possibility. However," he admitted after a second, "the prospect of a polyamorous relationship failing and then damaging our friendship beyond repair is more unsettling than the prospect of having my life directed by Michael Bay."

Jeff blew out a breath. "I can get that. So your options seem to be addressing this situation head-on or just maintaining your friendship and potentially having something randomly happen to maybe change that?"

"I'd say that's a fair summary. A friend suggested that we could perhaps initiate a shift in our relationship, towards dating, with either the precision of a surgeon or the unrefined fumble of a drunken barman," Abed explained, not wanting to reference the Dreamatorium itself as the source of that particular insight for Jeff. "Since Annie and I have a penchant for order, I'd prefer going with the first approach rather than the 'fiery explosion of previously unresolved sexual tension' storyline that you and Britta acted out. No offense," Abed added.

Jeff raised his glass in a mock toast. "Don't worry about it, that's really none of your styles. Your relationship has developed more like…" he paused to take another swig of whiskey, then found the right words. "You know how an inch of snow doesn't sound like a whole lot, but if that one inch keeps falling steadily over time, over the course of, say, 8 or 9 hours, you're suddenly buried in it?"

"Sure," Abed nodded.

"That's what it seems like has happened for the three of you, that you've accumulated all of these small moments with each other. And you've kept stacking them and you're at a point where the span or depth of the relationship has hit you," Jeff commented.

Abed gave him an impressed finger point. "That was twice as short as the average Winger speech and twice as effective for me, in particular."

"Thanks," Jeff grinned before snapping, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Abed shrugged. "You're a good orator and _pathos_ plays well for the rest of the group, so you use it liberally. I don't need it as much. That was an effective use of _logos_ wrapped in an analogy."

"That's fair," Jeff agreed. "And thank you, Abed. But I don't know if that helped in terms of coming to a decision on what you're doing, so I'll just say this," he continued. "I'm certainly not as close to Annie and Troy as you are. But based on what I _have_ seen from you three, I'd trust that they'd do nearly anything to keep your friendship intact, even if a relationship didn't work. Not that I'm claiming it won't," he hastened to add. "But I think, Abed, that even your worst case scenario would play out better than you think. And you all deserve a shot at seeing what the best case scenario could be."

"I'm pretty sure it would be more awesome than owning sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads," Abed replied, drawing a chuckle from Jeff. And, sure, he made the reference in part, to lighten the mood, and in part because he'd watched Austin Powers on TBS the other day with Annie and Troy.

But part of him whispered, _"It would be that great to be with both of them,"_ and he really, truly meant it.

**

Abed struggled to fall asleep that night once he'd gotten home, turning Jeff's advice over and over in his mind.

" _It is possible that I've been too fixated on the worst possible outcome, on my fears, to recognize the positive potential of a relationship with Troy and Annie?"_ he asked himself while Troy, based on his light snoring, slept easily in the top bunk.

" _That's not outside the realm of possibility,"_ Abed admitted in his head; after all, he'd mostly had acquaintances, rather than friends, for most of his pre-Greendale life, so it was natural to not want to risk losing the friendship of the two people who'd become the most important to him. Plus, the idea of being so vulnerable with them posed its own challenges. Though he doubted it would happen, they could freeze up and respond like Jeff had when Britta had first declared her love for him at the Transfer Dance (though Abed was hardly planning to do anything that drastic).

On the other hand, not acknowledging their shifting dynamic could produce its own awkwardness, too, if Annie and/or Troy found another significant other and Abed was left holding the bag, so to speak. That seemed unlikely at the moment, though both of his roommates were certainly attractive enough, both physically and otherwise, to garner interest from any number of people at Greendale.

" _Even before we lived together, there have been moments where we've all recognized a certain magnetism about each other,"_ Abed reflected, recalling when he'd first pulled out his Don Draper impression and used it on Annie. While Shirley, Britta, and Pierce had, naturally, fixated on her visceral reaction to Abed's unexpected adoption of a classic "bad guy" persona, he'd noticed Troy's intense stare and the way he'd throatily declared that Abed's impression was "awesome."

Of course, there was also the Han/Leia kiss he and Annie had shared during the City College paintball game. While the two of them had been role-playing, Abed would gladly admit that Annie's kissing skills were more than satisfactory. She had kissed him back eagerly without being sloppy, passionately without being too aggressive. Abed had never before considered what kissing Troy would be like, but he doubted it would be bad. Troy simply seemed too cool to be a subpar kisser (even if he wasn't really "cool" in the stereotypical high school sense of the word any more).

He let his mind wander down those dual hallways a bit longer than he ever had before, imagining what it might be like to kiss Annie and Troy outside of a game, outside of any coded play-time that could render their actions less real. He even indulged his inner director, conjuring up a mental picture of Troy and Annie sharing their first kiss.

The possibilities reminded Abed of what the Dreamatorium had said about Annie, that she had the potential to be something golden. As he started feeling more drowsy, he thought, _"Maybe that analysis could apply to all three of us, if we could figure out how to properly start up a relationship."_

For being a bit of a pessimist, Abed could still be pretty optimistic, and he took that happy thought with him as he finally fell asleep.

**

While Abed appreciated Greendale's snowy winter season as much as the next person, he was grateful that the blustery, ice-cold, precipitation-heavy weather of the previous week or so decided to give way to slightly milder conditions on New Year's Eve, especially when Annie pointed out, "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for us to pick up some snacks this afternoon for the party tonight."

Alas, even Aldi was too crowded for Abed and Troy to partake in a quick grocery cart race, but they acquired a fruit tray, a party size bag of popcorn, and a couple variety packs of E.L. Fudge cookies to take to Jeff's, leaving them ample time afterwards to laze around the apartment before getting ready.

"It's gonna be a little weird to wear real people clothes again," Troy commented as he retrieved his outfit, laying the top half (undershirt, white button down shirt, blue and gray tie) out on the bed before gathering up the bottom half (fresh boxers, dark blue dress pants, and fresh socks) and his towel to take to the bathroom to shower.

"Might be a little weird to see the rest of the group again, too," Annie called back. "We've kinda been holed up here for most of our break."

Abed, at one time, may have been annoyed by this, how they can nearly always intercept each other's sentences—the apartment's not all that big, after all—but now it's just one of their Things, like movie night couch cuddles and making dinners together when they're all home and trading games, books, new music, and puzzles to and fro, back and forth. Heck, he's pretty sure Annie had not-so-secretly stolen one of Troy's old, faded Denver Broncos sweatshirts to wear on especially cold nights when November's arrival ripped fall away from them and replaced it with the cruel mistress of winter. Abed knows she's only taken his gray hoodie with the blue stripes on the sleeves once or twice because it had ended up smelling a bit like her laundry; he appreciated that Annie was nice enough to at least ensure the pilfered item was clean before returning it.

Something in Annie's previous sentence pulled him out of his thoughts. A turn of phrase struck him as slightly unusual, and then he realized, speaking it aloud, to Annie, and possibly Troy, as well, since it didn't sound like he'd gotten in the shower yet, "It's been nice that it's been _our_ break."

The rush of the shower started, then slowed, and after a second, Troy poked his head out from the bathroom door. "Whaddaya mean, buddy?"

"Just that, when all six of us are together, we sometimes get caught up in other hijinks, or there's some nonsense going on at Greendale that we all have to handle. Whereas lately, we've been able to spend time together, just the three of us." He paused for a second before asking, "Did I interpret that correctly, Annie?"

"I didn't even realize I'd said _our_ break as opposed to _the_ break, but...yeah, I think you did," she answered. "By the way, can you guys play fashion experts for a second?"

Troy gave Abed his _"We can try"_ look and, Abed assumed, a noncommittal shrug, so he stepped out of his and Troy's shared bedroom and answered, "We _can_ , but we might not do it well."

"Alright, that's good enough for me," she announced, stepping out of her room, holding up two dresses. One, a dark blue number with white polka dots, looked like a slight step up from her every-day wear, while the other, a short sleeved rose gold dress that faintly shimmered, seemed to scream, "Night on the town."

"Anyone in particular you're trying to impress?" Abed asked. "Because if so, the gold one will do the trick. Though you'd look great in the other one, too."

"The gold dress definitely gives off more of a fancy party feel," Troy added. "Like you're the wife of a diplomat. Or maybe a Bond girl."

"I don't think I'm trying to impress anyone tonight…" Annie responded slowly as a grin started to creep over her face. "But...I dunno. This rose gold dress feels like something evil Annie might wear, and it's kinda speaking to me. It's got a little femme fatale energy to it, no?" She mimed holding a paintball gun and aimed down the sights at Troy, then Abed.

Abed swallowed once, then twice, then coughed, because his face suddenly felt flushed while he also went cold with dread.

" _I could really use Troy's help with interpreting these feelings_ ," he realized, but Troy had squeaked out, "Alright, then. Gold dress it is." He shut the bathroom door with a snap, and the loud rush of water informed Abed he was all alone for now.

"You're...you're not evil Annie, are you?" Abed stammered, in a pitifully awkward attempt to fill the silence.

"No, Abed," Annie half-laughed, half-sighed. "I'm only playing around. It's just...I do my homework on time, I follow the rules, I get proper amounts of sleep, most nights. I don't call off work unless I'm deathly ill." She paused and summarized simply, "I'm always good. But sometimes, it'd be nice to have the option to be bad, you know?"

He nodded and quietly answered, "Yes," not trusting himself to speak any more than that at the moment.

**

"Abed?" Troy asked as he brushed his hair and hung up his towel before tugging his undershirt over his head.

"Hmm?" Abed replied from their closet as he flipped through potential shirt choices prior to settling on a dark blue one along with khakis to create an outfit that, he was pretty sure, matched well with Troy's tie and shirt combo.

"Was...was Annie flirting with us earlier?"

Abed would've laughed heartily at the role reversal of Troy requesting assistance in reading a scene if he hadn't been turning that question over in his head for a good five minutes himself. Abed felt a bit as if he was nine years old again, reading a Goosebumps book and arriving at a narrative fork that promised danger in either direction.

" _Option 1: Tell the truth,"_ he thought. _"Yes, she was, and I think she might know that I—that we—liked it. And while we're on the topic of scary truths, Troy, you're going to look positively spiffing tonight."_

" _Option 2: Lie."_ Abed played out this scenario in his head, as well. _"Make like an NFL referee conducting a video replay and convince Troy that what he saw and heard, wasn't actually what he saw and heard."_

Abed realized Troy was still looking at him, waiting for an answer, and he quickly decided to straddle a semi-perilous middle ground between the two choices.

"I think she was flirting, maybe trying out a role of a rebellious debutante, or a flapper."

(Honestly, he was pretty proud of himself for describing Annie's behavior that way. If he said Annie was play-acting at "being bad," he and Troy would probably both die of embarrassment.)

"Ah. Ok." Troy seemed oddly deflated at his response, and he didn't quite meet Abed's eyes when Abed mentioned, "I'm gonna go shower, now."

"Kay, buddy," Troy murmured. "I'll be here, getting ready."

It was one of those rare moments where Abed didn't quite know how to cheer Troy up. He knows that, although they're few and far between, they crop up between even the best of friends, sometimes. He knows, too, that disappointment is an inevitability in life, that it's often strong catalysts for growth and development.

But that didn't stop Abed from wishing, as he and Troy quietly got dressed for the party, that he could summon all of those painful, not-peak-Troy-and-Abed moments together with a powerful _Accio_ before hitting them with a Vanishing spell.

**

The end of Jeff's New Year's Eve party, to Abed, was a blur. Not due to drunkenness, no, or at least not the standard, alcohol-induced kind; though Abed was happy to enjoy a couple of beers during the evening, he was easily on the responsible side of tipsy, nowhere near plastered. Part of it, he figured, was due to the heightened social interactions; to the sudden doubling of the friend circle from three to six.

(He knew better than that, but he wanted to give the writers an out in case they needed it.)

No, no, the loss of control hit precisely around 11:48 P.M., with the night's excitement cresting when Britta proved herself to simultaneously be the best and the worst by hijacking Jeff's iPod and putting on "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

Abed had been about to boo her choice along with Shirley and Jeff—bringing down the energy with a low-key song so close to midnight hardly seemed like the right idea, based on his years of consumption of holiday-themed movies—but then Annie had started to sway dreamily, her blue eyes sparkling brighter than the scattering of sequins on her rose gold dress. She murmured to Abed and Troy, just above the party's din, "Can I get a New Year's Eve dance with my boys? Or, I suppose I should ask, may I have this dance?"

She giggled and curtsied, and how were they supposed to resist that, resist _her_?

They didn't.

While all three of them had danced before at parties, they'd never properly _danced_ with actual steps, outside of that one time Abed and Annie broke out into the Charleston in the Dreamatorium.

Abed and Annie swayed back and forth easily during the second stanza of the song, with his hands on her waist while hers were wrapped loosely around his neck.

_Maybe it's much too early in the game,_

_Oh, but I thought I'd ask you just the same_

_What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?_

"Mind if I cut in?" Troy asked.

Abed had been about to relinquish his soft hold on Annie's waist when she gave him a saucy wink and said brightly to Troy, "Not at all, my good sir," giggling again as she spun out of Abed's grasp, leaving her two best friends together.

"Oh," Troy started. "O—okay. You good with this, Abed?" he asked tentatively.

Abed nodded with a small measure of hesitancy himself. "Sure, Troy. If we're completely terrible at actually dancing together, we can tastefully krump."

"You got it, buddy," Troy laughed. Given his ballet experience, he took the lead, guiding Abed in a simple box step as the next lines came in:

_Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight_

_When it's exactly 12 o'clock at night,_

_Welcoming in the New Year, New Year's Eve._

After a little while, Abed reached out for Annie, noting in a refined tone, "Lord Barnes is a wonderful dancer, Lady Edison. You simply _must_ enjoy the pleasure of his company on the floor."

She took Abed's hand and grinned as he passed her over to Troy. "Why, thank you, Lord Nadir. I'm delighted to share my dance card with two esteemed gentlemen such as yourselves."

Watching Troy and Annie dance gave Abed the same feeling he'd had when he'd imagined them kissing, and he enjoyed simply listening to the music as Troy led Annie into a spin before catching her free hand and pulling her back closer to him:

_Oh, maybe I'm crazy to suppose,_

_I'd ever be the one you chose_

_Out of the thousand invitations you'll receive._

Those feelings only grew stronger when they pirouetted their way over to Abed, each beckoning him to join their dance with a broad smile and an outstretched hand. As the song came to a close, the three of them, having anticipated the final lines, sang together softly,

_What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?_

_What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?_

A few minutes later, as everyone counted down to midnight, Abed thought, for a second, about kissing both of them—nothing too serious, just a light peck on the lips—but it would invite more questions than he (or either of his friends, most likely) would want to answer at the moment, so he settled for a tight group hug betwixt the three of them, instead.

As they drove home, all three of them still glowing with post-party energy, not quite on the come-down yet, Abed reflected, _"We've had these close encounters, these almost-there moments many times now. Playing in the Dreamatorium. The afternoon we spent together after Annie's date. Going to Lakeside. And now, dancing together as couples, and then together again, one, two, three."_

Feeling a warm contentment in his chest at the memories, he finally resolved, just after bidding Annie and Troy goodnight and just before falling asleep, _"I'll bring this up with them tomorrow, or the day after."_


	10. Chapter 10

New Year's Day got off to an unexpected start, at least by Annie's standards, as Abed announced, over breakfast, "I'd like to call for a special Casa Trobedison meeting today."

Annie and Troy gave each other a bleary-eyed glance. None of them had gotten too drunk at Jeff's party, nor were they nursing hangovers, but they were still pretty tuckered out from the late night.

"Could this wait til later in the day, Abed?" Troy yawned. "I'm not sure I'm awake enough yet for a domicile discussion."

"Same," Annie responded through a bite of her bagel. "I could use a shower to perk me up first, and I wanted to do a little bit of forensics reading."

"Sure," Abed agreed. Checking his watch, he asked, "How's 12:00 or so work for both of you?"

They sleepily nodded their acquiescence. "Sounds good," Abed nodded. "We'll chat then." Once he finished his breakfast of Cap'n Crunch, toast, and special drink, he promptly retreated to his bed, pulled out his journal and a pen, and tugged the entrance shut, indicating a desire for privacy.

Annie and Troy exchanged another look, this one tinged with a hint of worry.

"Is something bothering Abed, do you know?" she whispered to Troy.

He cast about in his mind for a second and came up empty. "Not that I can think of," he frowned. "We're probably concerned for nothing. He might just want to discuss our schedules for study group meetings and stuff since we're getting a little closer to the start of the new semester."

"Bet you're right," Annie agreed before finishing the last gulp of her orange juice and hopping in the shower.

The warm blast of water on the back of her neck reminded her of the feeling of Troy's and Abed's hands resting there last night as they'd danced with her toward the end of Jeff's party. When she replayed those moments in her mind's eye and honed in on the minutes just prior to the clock striking midnight, she could've sworn she'd spotted Abed regarding both her and Troy with something more than mere friendly affection.

She'd thought about kissing both of them to ring in the New Year. Just for a sliver of a second. But she'd held back.

" _If it had been just the three of us, here, would you have done it?"_ Annie asked herself as she shampooed her hair.

" _Maybe,"_ she answered, tilting her head back and rolling her neck, then amended her lie a beat later. _"Ok, definitely. I definitely would've kissed Troy and Abed under those circumstances."_

**

She tried (and failed) to disregard just how much she _still_ wanted to kiss both of them as she turned the water off, threw on her new, clean "relaxing around the apartment" pajamas, and wrapped her hair in a towel. She reviewed the forensics textbook for her intro class and started taking notes on the first couple of chapters before their apartment meeting. As was their custom, the person who'd proposed the special meeting had the floor first.

"Alright, per standard operating procedure: does anyone in the apartment register any significant concerns about shared space use, the apartment's general cleanliness, and/or meal prep scheduling or duties?" Abed asked.

"No," Annie and Troy answered.

"Does anyone register any significant concerns about their roommates slash best friends' general well-being?" Abed inquired.

Troy had installed that question as a shared reminder for them all to check in with each other during busy work times, often at the end of semesters. Generally, the answer was "No," but today, neither Troy nor Annie responded right away.

"Do we need a game of rock-paper-scissors to break the silence?" Abed followed up.

"No," Annie and Troy replied in unison. "To the second question, for me, at least," Annie hastily added to clarify. She swallowed and, then, finding her courage, went on, "I have...it's not a concern, per se, but a topic I'd like to discuss with both of you."

Troy nodded. "I second Annie's motion for a group chat after you conclude your discussion, Abed."

"Got it. Your points are added to our agenda," Abed noted, scribbling a bullet point down on their latest page of meeting minutes. "Now then, unless there's anything else you'd thought of…?"

He lifted his eyebrows at both of them and they shook their heads.

"On to the purpose of this meeting we go." Abed took a drink of water before pulling out his journal and flicking through some of its pages before he apparently arrived at his intended destination.

"As you know, I've been keeping observational tabs as a means of ensuring I'm contributing to a comfortable living space for all of us," Abed explained. "And, to date, I'd say that's been successful."

"Absolutely," Troy agreed enthusiastically, and Annie, too, responded, "Living with you guys has been totally amazing."

Abed rewarded both of them with a small smile. "Cool cool cool. Lately, though, I've noticed a change in behavior amongst all of us. More instances of touching, of all relaxing on the couch together, of luxuriating in just our company here in Casa Trobedison, et cetera. I have some specifics here if you'd be interested." He rustled a few pages.

"No, I...I think I'd agree with your assessment," Annie stuttered, and beside her, Troy struggled to do anything besides nod dumbly.

"Good, glad we're all on the same page so far," Abed continued before taking a deep breath. "Now comes the awkward part," he half-joked. "I'm about ninety-six percent sure I'm attracted to both of you in a way that transcends standard friendship." He took another deep breath. "Whew. That was a little less painful to share than I expected, but still harrowing." He added, "If that news makes either of you feel awkward, or uncomfortable, we can drop it, and I'll never bring this up again. If you have any thoughts, questions, or comments, those are welcome, too."

Annie wouldn't, couldn't believe what she'd heard, or else her world might tip even further off its axis than it had since she'd first come to Greendale.

" _This has to be a Dreamatorium hallucination. Or I'm still asleep after Jeff's party and I'm dreaming. Because otherwise, Abed just said he wants to date Troy and me,"_ she thought, nearly laughing at the absurdity of it all, because there was no way that had just happened in real life.

"Abed," Troy responded after a beat, his voice trembling, "when you say 'transcends standard friendship,' do you mean, we're all super best friends rather than regular best friends, or something? Or are you saying you'd want to be with us both in, like, a boyfriend-girlfriend context?"

"Knew I should've clarified that," Abed chided himself lightly. "I meant the latter. But if neither one of you are at all interested, that's…" his voice faltered and Annie felt like she'd taken a paintball bullet to the chest from three feet away. "That's fine, I just…"

"No!" Annie and Troy shouted together, having just enough time to see Abed's eyes go wide and register the small, semi-alarmed noise he made before they turned toward each other, mouths agape, and Annie's world got rocked for the second time in about half a minute.

**

"You...you too?" Troy stammered, his voice about two octaves higher than usual. He shook his head wildly. "I didn't think…"

"I didn't, either," Annie assured him, equally stunned. "I wouldn't have guessed…" she pointed back and forth between Troy and Abed.

"Are you both not saying what I think you're trying to say?" Abed asked in a husky voice.

"Can we adjourn the meeting?" Annie croaked out in response. She wanted, desperately, to answer "yes" to Abed's question, but she didn't want to speak for Troy—who, at the moment, couldn't really speak for himself, either.

Abed nodded mutely and Troy walked over to the couch to slump onto it. "I need a minute to process what I think is happening, but it also kinda feels like my brain might explode," he mumbled.

"Would a diagram be of assistance, Troy?" Abed asked quietly after a minute.

"If you guess it'll help, buddy, I'm all ears. Or eyes, I suppose," he answered as he sat up, with Annie settling in next to him.

Abed flipped his journal to the next page and showed it to them. "I'm glad I thought to write this out earlier," he mentioned proudly. "So, a while ago, back when Annie moved in, I'd been trying to figure out what our dynamic was as roommates and as a trio that would be spending much more time together, compared to when the three of us were basically only meeting in the study group."

"Ok," Troy and Annie nodded, both following along so far.

"As you could probably guess, the standard three-person trope is the love triangle. Which, if you'll see here, is a bit of a misnomer." He pointed to what appeared to be a small, incomplete triangle.

"Take Katniss, Peeta, and Gale from The Hunger Games." He scribbled out each of their first initials on a corner of the triangle. "You'll notice that there's a line going from each of Gale and Peeta to Katniss, but there isn't anything actually connecting Gale and Peeta. Additionally, Katniss can only select one of them as her love interest, meaning—" he crossed out the line linking Gale and Katniss and continued, "her relationship with the other will be severed, or at least severely compromised, since his feelings can't be returned. You're both still with me?"

"Yep," they murmured.

"Great. So, moving on to our scenario." He quickly scribbled down their names in the shape of a triangle, but without any lines on it. "The first part is easy—I'm attracted to both of you." He drew a line linking his own name to Troy's, then did the same to connect his name to Annie's. Though Abed had been candid in admitting his attraction to his best friends, his shaky breath betrayed his deep emotions. "And I don't want to assume, so, please, tell me if I'm wrong before I humiliate myself further," his voice trailed off.

"You're not," Troy answered softly. "Mind if I help with this, buddy?" He plucked the pen out of Abed's trembling fingers, steadied the notebook with his own hand, then drew a line from his name back to Abed's, followed by one to Annie's.

"Could I see that, too?" Annie asked in a hushed voice as she followed Troy's lead and scratched a line from her name to Troy's, then to Abed's.

"A reinforced love triangle, with room for all three of us to be together. Cool," Abed commented, his voice quavering with emotion. "Cool cool cool. So…" he glanced at his two best friends. "We're doing this?"

"I think we'll need to work out some details, but we're pretty good at that," Troy murmured as he rested his head on Abed's shoulder and hooked a foot around Annie's calf, inviting her closer.

"I'm sure some kind soul on the Internet has advice on how three best friends slash roommates can thrive in a polyamorous relationship," Annie offered with a watery smile before laughing at herself. "That's still a mouthful to say."

"Are you saying you've said those words before, somewhere?" Abed countered, and she blushed a deep crimson before Troy interrupted, "It seemed like you had a plan for just about everything regarding this discussion, Abed."

"Not everything," Abed acknowledged, preening a little at Troy's praise. "But I'd like to say I thought of most scenarios and...well, the two of you returning my feelings, and also having feelings for each other, was the ideal outcome."

"Aww," Annie murmured softly before Troy blurted out, "Then...can I kiss you?"

**

Abed's eyes went wide for a second, and he opened and shut his mouth without saying anything a couple of times, and Annie lamented, "Troy, you broke Abed!"

After a second, he gave a kind of rattling exhale. "No, I'm good. Once I realized where everything was going with your responses, I figured that question would come up, but it was still a bit of a shock to hear it out loud." He smiled softly at Troy. "And yes, to give you an answer. Best friends no matter what, right?"

"Always, buddy," Troy responded, and they shared their usual handshake before they both leaned in to kiss each other. It started off soft and the tiniest bit chaste at first before they opened their mouths for each other and chased it with their tongues, with hands grabbing onto shoulders or catching onto wrists.

Troy had been taken aback at the tender force of Abed's kiss and, more than anything, how _present_ his best friend was in it. How Abed's kiss made him feel cared for, treasured, and valued—probably even loved—in a way that was, to Troy, a perfect extension or expansion of their friendship.

He felt himself smiling when their kiss ended and was thrilled to see a small smile on Abed's face, too.

"Dude…" Troy grinned. "You're a really good kisser."

Abed gave him appreciative finger guns and a nod. "Back at ya, Troy."

At that exchange, Annie emitted a sound that was halfway between one of her "this is precious" squeals and a moan.

"You ok, Annie?" Troy asked with a frown.

"Yes. Or maybe no," she choked out in a half-strangled voice. "You two kissing is sweet, and tender, and adorable, but also, like, _insanely_ hot. And I kind of need one of you to kiss me ASAP."

Troy and Abed looked at each other for a second before Abed gestured toward Troy. "Even though we were playing roles during paintball, I've still kissed Annie before, in a way," he remarked. "So I think you should get to kiss her first, Troy. If you're alright with that," he added to Annie..

"As long as I get to kiss both of you, I'm not picky about the order," she breathed.

Troy cracked up at that for a second, because he suddenly lived in a world where he could just _kiss his two best friends_ pretty openly, and it was still a little insane to consider.

"Hey," he whispered to Annie as they shifted closer together on the couch.

"Hey," she whispered back, grinning.

Troy dipped his head toward her, then stopped. "Since I can finally tell you this now and not have it be weird...you're friggin gorgeous, Annie."

Seventeen year old Annie Edison would've positively _melted_ at that line.

To be fair, twenty two year old Annie Edison did a little, as well, but then murmured, "You are, too, Troy," with a smile just before surging forward to meet his lips with her own.

As she'd witnessed with Troy and Abed, there was a split second of beautiful innocence mixed with "how exactly does this work?" followed by each of them tilting their heads to one side and ok, yeah, it's a _kiss_ now, transitioning from soft and unsure to passionate and certain in a heartbeat. In a way, it wasn't a crazy-big deal, though, Annie registered. It felt like a natural progression of their friendship, a cementing of their transition into dating. It wasn't the kind of grand event she'd built up her first kiss with Jeff to be. But this tasted like the first of many future kisses she and Troy would share.

Annie stopped waxing poetic when Troy swiped his tongue into her mouth. She retaliated by sucking on his bottom lip with a nip of her teeth, and while the mental/emotional connection was nice, the sheer physical enjoyment of kissing Troy Barnes was quite the perk, too. Annie was six degrees of pleased with herself when they pulled back and Troy looked like he'd just gotten wallopped over the head with a cartoon hammer.

"Wow," Troy breathed out before nodding like a bobblehead. "You sure do know how to kiss."

"Wow to you, too," Annie smiled.

"If you two are gorgeous, then what am I, chopped liver?" Abed asked, half-indignant and half-playful, drawing laughs from both of them.

"Can I call you pretty, Abed? Is that weird?" Troy wondered aloud.

Abed scrunched up his face. "Not weird, but I don't think I like it. I'd probably like handsome, or dashing. And you're both beautiful, by the way," he murmured softly. "I could do beautiful, as well."

"I can work with those terms," Troy nodded as Annie piped up, "What about debonair? And c'mere, Abed, I wanna kiss you, too."

"Ooh, debonair sounds nice," Abed hummed appreciatively before saying, "I need a complimentary adjective for you, Annie…" in one swift move, he got up, neatly stepped around Troy, leaned down to Annie, cupped her jaw with his hand, and whispered, "How about stunning?" just before he kissed her.

Abed caught her squeak of surprise in his throat and it was easily in his top five favorite sounds ever.

He'd felt, in their previous kiss during the paintball game, more of himself and Annie than he'd let on, and he'd known that they'd approached a dangerous pinnacle of hungry affection.

This time, he didn't break it off at that point and deepened it instead, feeling an electric thrill as Annie responded in kind, pulling him closer with both her hands looped around his neck and moaning into the kiss. They finally, slowly broke apart, and Annie's doe eyes were blown larger than either of the boys had seen before.

"Troy's right," she whispered appreciatively. "You _are_ an excellent kisser, Abed."

"Same to you," Abed nodded before tapping Troy gently on the shoulder. "You ok there, Troy?"

"I think so? It's just...you're both so damn attractive! And that was smooth as hell, Abed," Troy burst out, eliciting laughs from Abed and Annie. He swallowed thickly, then added, in the same wrecked, half-shattered tone that had been in Annie's voice after she'd observed his and Abed's kiss, "I think I see now why you like being behind the camera, buddy."

"Yep. I hope you don't mind my saying this, but watching you two kiss is incredible, too," Abed replied.

"This _whole thing_ ," Troy gestured to the three of them, "is incredible."

"Also incredibly _dangerous_ ," Annie added in a low voice. "Because I kinda don't wanna stop kissing either one of you. Or stop watching you guys kiss," she confessed. "And that's got me thinking—it might not be a bad idea to find something else to do."

Abed and Troy exchanged a look at her last sentence, then both waggled their eyebrows suggestively at Annie.

"Oh, shut up, I don't mean _that_." Annie rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue at Abed, and playfully thumped Troy on the arm with a throw pillow. "At least, not immediately."

"No, we wouldn't want to pull a Jeff and Britta and jump right to sex," Abed commented.

"The best romances in media always build over time, and I think it would be prudent to do that in our case. Especially since, unless I'm sorely mistaken, none of us has ever dated two people at once before."

"All in favor of going for the slower approach, exploring our relationship more, and figuring out how exactly the three of us dating will work before we dive further into the physical stuff?" Troy polled them. He beamed upon receiving their two enthusiastic "yes" votes.

"We could maybe go on our first official date later, though?" Abed suggested hopefully.

Annie clapped her hands excitedly. "Yes, please!"

Given his viewpoint of the window, however, Troy frowned. "I'd say yes, too, except it's been blizzarding all morning." He quickly checked the weather app on his phone. "And it's not supposed to let up for a while."

Annie's smile faded. "Plus, I forgot, it's New Year's Day. Tons of places are probably closed."

"Well, there _is_ one other option," Abed responded semi-triumphantly, waiting for one of them to catch on to his wavelength.

"Of course!" Troy snapped his fingers after a minute. "We could plan our first date in…"

"The Dreamatorium!" all three of them exclaimed.

**

"Have you guys ever used the Dreamatorium in this way?" Annie asked them.

"No, but I trust that it can fit our needs," Abed replied.

"Are we all going to tell it what we're thinking of for a first date?" Troy guessed, a little confused.

"It might work best if we have a sort of agreed-upon starting point for making the scene," Abed noted. "In terms of location, ambience, and whatnot."

"Hmm…" Troy stroked his chin. "I think I'd want a first date to be somewhat laid-back."

"Seems reasonable. Could you explain further?" Abed inquired.

"I wouldn't want to go somewhere like a Starbucks—somewhere so chill and relaxed that it almost doesn't feel like a date," Troy elaborated. "But I'm not sure I'd necessarily want a first date to be at a super fancy restaurant, either. Somewhere in between would be good, I think."

"I concur," Abed stated.

"Upscale casual!" Annie cried out suddenly. "I _knew_ that was a thing."

Abed and Troy gazed at her, clearly befuddled, so she clarified, "Think about the outfits you wore on friendsgiving, but swap out the pants you wore for jeans. And then consider the kind of restaurant you might go to where that's the predominant fashion. That sounds like the type of first date setting you two are describing."

"Ahh," they nodded sagely.

"Like Briar Common Brewery + Eatery?" Troy asked.

Annie frowned. "I don't think I've been there."

"We should all go sometime, I heard good things about it from one of the other football coaches," Troy responded while Abed pulled up reviews and photos of the restaurant on Yelp.

"Is this the kind of place you were thinking of, Annie?" He scrolled through a few pictures.

"Ooh, yes! I think that fits my mental picture for a first date setting," Annie affirmed. "Would it work for you two?"

"Definitely," they both answered with a nod.

As they all headed for the Dreamatorium, though, Abed stopped short at the door.

"Did you think of something else to include, buddy?" Troy asked.

"No, I, uh…" Abed cleared his throat. "I wanted to invite you both to help create this setting. If you'd be interested, of course."

"Definitely!" Annie chirped, while Troy replied, "It'd be an honor. How are we going to do that?"

Abed hesitated again. "Well. Um. Could you give me a couple of minutes to figure that part out? I think I'll need to start on my own, like we've been doing."

Troy wore a puzzled expression for a beat, then shrugged. "Sure thing."

"Yeah," Annie reassured him. "You're the Dreamatorium expert, Abed."

"I wouldn't go that far," he answered, but he still felt his face flush at her compliment.

This time, when they all sat down, they stayed together. Annie took Abed's left hand in her right, tracing her thumb around his palm, while Troy, seated to his right, leaned up against his shoulder.

Abed slowly closed his eyes, and the whoosh of the Dreamatorium's voice entered his head.

" _Abed and Annie and Troy. Or...oh, never mind the permutations. In any event, they all lead to the same conclusion: one, two, three,"_ she hummed in a pleased tone. _"I sense that current running between you has settled into an easy ebb and flow. I'm not one for making assumptions, for so doing dooms spirits and mortals alike, but from your mental state, I sense that you've perhaps arrived at a satisfying resolution."_

" _Yes,"_ Abed thought back happily.

" _Does it make sense now?"_ she teased. _"What I said before, about Annie being both yours and not yours, those months ago?"_

He nearly gasped out loud as the meaning of that riddle struck him between the eyes. _"You knew?!"_

" _I did not know, precisely—I possess no soothsaying capabilities, Abed,_ " she responded playfully. _"But I devised a calculated guess. In any event, sharing too much information with you before you could arrange the context for yourself would have hindered your, Troy, and Annie's collective journey to this happily realized possibility."_

" _Speaking of said journey…"_ he thought. _"I'd like to invite them to help construct a reality. Do you have any advice on how to go about doing that?"_

" _Simply invite them,_ " she answered easily. _"And tell them I'll be saying hello. I can handle introductions from there."_

" _Okay,"_ he replied, his thought wobbling with a hint of uncertainly. _"I'm just worried they might think I'm crazy."_

" _Abed…they trust you,"_ the voice murmured reassuringly. _"And trust me, they're eager to share in this experience with you."_

With that, he cleared his throat and announced, "I, Abed Nadir, hereby formally invite you, Troy Barnes," he pressed a kiss to Troy's temple, "and you, Annie Edison," he turned, did the same for her, and squeezed her hand, "to join me in constructing realities in the Dreamatorium. Beginning with the one for our first official date. And you should receive contact from the Dreamatorium soon."

"Okay!" Troy and Annie both cheered eagerly, but they also sounded a tad confused.

" _Could I get a little help here, please?"_ he directed to the voice after a few seconds.

" _Certainly,"_ she replied smoothly.

Based on Annie's eyebrows shooting up to her hairline and Troy's half-stifled shriek of surprise, the Dreamatorium came through for him.

"Did you just hear some classy woman's voice whisper 'hello' in your head, too, or am I going totally crazy?" Annie gasped at Troy.

"Mmhmm!" Troy hummed back. "I mean, I did, but I also think I'm certifiably nuts."

"You're not, neither one of you is," Abed interrupted calmly. "That's just the Dreamatorium's essence, or presence, if you prefer. She helps me with building our imaginary spaces. Her saying hello must be you receiving contact. And you two can communicate with her through your thoughts, just so you know," Abed commented.

Troy and Annie still gazed at him incredulously for a second.

"So we're supposed to just start talking to a spirit. In our minds. That's totally normal," Troy laughed weakly.

"We can do this, we can do this," Annie chanted to herself nervously.

Sensing they might need more support, Abed reached out for both their hands and squeezed them gently. "I promise," he murmured softly. "I'd never do anything to hurt you two at all. Ever."

Recalling the Dreamatorium's words, he added, "It's just, this is something I want to share with you. An Abed way of strengthening our relationship, if you will, in the Dreamatorium. How about you start by asking how she is? And try closing your eyes. I find it helps me to sort of zone out a little."

They both got better control over their breathing and visibly relaxed a bit as they followed his advice. Abed kept his eyes open, admiring Troy as he scrunched his eyebrows, clearly asking some type of question, while a flicker of a smile flitted over Annie's face. Hearing some of their reactions aloud was pretty nice, too.

"You're saying robot sports can be a thing if we imagine far enough in the future?" Troy whispered. "Awesome!"

Meanwhile, Annie murmured, in a self-satisfied tone, "You're right, Calisandra, it _is_ nice to have another woman around."

Abed frowned. "Calisandra?"

"Abed! You've been telepathically communicating with her for however long and you never got her _name_?" Annie gasped in indignation before scoffing, " _Boys._ "

" _Oops,"_ he thought guiltily. _"Sorry, Calisandra."_

" _It's alright,"_ she answered him with a chuckle seconds before Troy piped up, "You have two boyfriends now, Annie, so I don't think we can be all that bad."

All three of them burst out laughing at that wisecrack, and Abed felt his heart swell at Troy's words. He was still a bit concerned about their comfort levels, though, so he quietly thought, _"How are they responding to you, Calisandra? To this whole new conception of the Dreamatorium?"_

" _It required some adjusting on their part, as it is a rather significant mental shift to undergo,"_ she admitted. _"But_ _they're beginning to grasp it now and are conceiving of themselves as creators and innovators in this space."_

" _Awesome. Thank you for your assistance,"_ he thought warmly.

" _Of course. I'd say let me know when you'd like to begin initiating your simulation sequence, but now, they can do that, too,_ " she murmured with something that sounded like pride.

"Hey, Abed?" Troy's voice came in distantly as Calisandra's faded out, and it took him a second to respond.

"Hmm?"

"We just wanted to say, thanks for sharing this with us," Troy murmured softly. He and Annie had scooted around so they were sitting next to each other, right in front of Abed.

"I've loved playing in the Dreamatorium before, but it's nice that it's even more of a communal space for us three, now," Annie noted. "And we were wondering…" she glanced over at Troy for a second, sharing a silent conversation with him, loving that she'd developed this level of non-verbal communication with both her boys. Loving that she'd get to find even more things to talk about (or, technically, not talk about) as their relationship grew.

"Could we arrange that date together, now?" they asked together.

"I don't know if it was all the emotions of the morning, or what, but I'm pretty hungry," Troy added.

"It _is_ already a bit after 12:30," Abed observed after checking his watch. "And yes, let's do that."

He noticed the two of them exchange another look just before he shut his eyes, and then suddenly felt a dual movement, twin rushes of air moving forward, followed by kisses on his cheeks from each of them.

"What was that for?" he asked, unable to catalogue the show of affection within his usual inventory.

"Cause you're great," Troy offered.

"And cause we can," Annie grinned.

Abed gave a small smile and reached forward to fold their hands into his own. Roughly a minute later, he was about to call out to Calisandra, then stopped. "Annie. Troy. Would either one of you want to begin the simulation this time?"

They both shook their heads.

"You were the one who was brave enough to take the first step to get us here, Abed," Annie responded softly.

"So we think it's fitting that you launch our first date," Troy concluded.

"Cool," Abed replied, then waited for them to fill in, just like he knew they would.

"Cool cool cool," all three of them chorused, grinning like idiots before Abed stated, "Dreamatorium…" he hesitated. "Err...Calisandra?"

" _Either is fine, Abed,"_ she reassured him.

He nodded his thanks before calling out confidently, "Calisandra, render environment: Upscale casual restaurant."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who read this and left kudos or comments, thank you so, so much! I'm probably taking a break from these three for a little bit to work on other projects, but I'd like to eventually do a post-canon future fic where they reconnect a handful of years after graduation and all get together in L.A. If anyone would be interested in something centered on that general concept, feel free to let me know.

They ended up arranging their date in the dining room, out of the Dreamatorium, mostly because moving the dining room table and chairs would've been a pain. But Annie retrieved the nice table cloth they'd used for friendsgiving to add to the ambiance, and Abed and Troy whipped up a side salad to go with their entree of Freschetta frozen pizza.

"Meet you guys back out here in, like, ten minutes after we get changed?" Annie asked, her voice maybe a half-octave or so above its normal register.

As she retreats to her room and peels off her pajamas, she doesn't feel like she's got butterflies in her stomach. No, it feels more like she's got a whole damn zoo there.

" _It's just Troy and Abed,"_ she reminded herself as she threw on an outfit-a sea-green cardigan, a white blouse, a black skirt, and leggings-that drew some parallels to what she'd worn on that fateful Sunday in September before her date with Derek. Which had basically turned into an at-home date with her two boys, when all was said and done.

Still, she couldn't help but remember how lovely it had felt to sort of dazzle them on friendsgiving as she quickly applied a layer of Forget-Me-Not red lipstick, then spritzed vanilla perfume on her neck and wrists before sauntering out toward the dining room area.

Her boys both froze for a second at her entrance and, after a second, Abed gave Troy an affectionate look.

"Our girlfriend is ridiculously beautiful, isn't she, Troy?" Abed remarked quietly.

"Yes, she is, Abed," he replied. "Yes, she is." Without taking their eyes off of her, they gave each other a handshake, only breaking eye contact during their subsequent kiss.

(They're considerate and precious and hot and, above all else, _hers,_ and Annie has never been more grateful for everything that led her to Greendale.)

"Well," Annie blushed and gave them both a shy smile as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear,

"My boyfriends clean up well, too." She let out a low whistle before happily accepting a kiss from each of them. "It's still freaking surreal to say that," she remarked as they sat down at the table.

"Polyamory is more common than you'd think," Abed pointed out. "A few surveys and studies I read suggested that roughly 15% of the U.S. population has engaged in consensual, non-monogamous relationships."

"Don't tell Shirley about them," Annie joked before she realized something. "Um, guys?"

Troy correctly interpreted the nervous quaver in her response. "We're gonna need to figure out some guidelines for ourselves, including whether or not we want to tell the rest of the group. But," he glanced at Abed for support before continuing, "we thought those could wait for later, or sometime tomorrow."

Abed added, "For now, we just want to enjoy a date with our Annie."

"Aww!" she murmured softly before reaching across the table to grab each of their hands in her own. "You guys are so good to me. I mean, you always were before, too, but it feels a bit different now, you know?"

They both nodded, and Troy commented, "We even brought out the fancy wine for special occasions. Because us having our first date," he announced while doling out pours for all of them, "is _definitely_ a special occasion."

He passed a glass to Annie with a genteel "Madam," and followed suit for Abed with, "And for the other gentleman at the table."

With his pinky extended out, Abed raised his glass and said simply, "Cheers to us."

Annie and Troy echoed him and extended their glasses out.

"Hey, Annie. You remember how you said the other day that you gave the AV Club some dating tips to get their help with finding that film festival DVD for Abed?" Troy asked, rolling up the sleeves of his purple button-down shirt as he chowed down on some pizza.

"Yep," she nodded as she poured Italian dressing over her salad.

"Abed and I were curious...did you have any first date tips for when you're going on a date with people you already know well?"

"I don't think so, they were more focused on kind of standard first dates with new people," she responded. "I think I put the horror movie and zombie apocalypse questions on there-remember when we discussed those after I went on that lame date?"

Both Troy and Abed nodded.

"Were you as freaked out as us after that?" Abed asked in his usual, straightforward way before he frowned for a second before looking at both Annie and Troy. "Sorry, is it bad boyfriend etiquette to ask intrusive questions?"

Annie reached over to pat his hand. "I don't think so, Abed. Plus, being so honest and direct is part of what makes you who you are."

Troy tacked on, "Yeah. Asking you to change because we're dating now would be pretty rude. Plus, we're all still best friends, anyway."

He gave both of them a small smile before Annie answered, "And, yes, realizing that the three of us kind of, sort of had an unofficial date scared the crap out of me at the time. Just because it was so different."

"Yeah, it was very unexpected," Abed agreed, and Troy put in, "Abed asked me to help teach him about _football_ to, like, create a storm of weirdness to restore normalcy."

Annie gasped. "So _that_ was how you got more into football."

"Yep," Abed confirmed before chuckling ruefully. "Reflecting on things now, I wish I could go back and tell past me it'll all work out really, really well. I think, even then, I sort of knew," he continued, "because spending that afternoon with you guys was so much fun, but in a slightly varied context."

"I don't wanna jinx us," Troy commented after taking a sip of wine, "but this new context has been pretty great so far."

"Talk about a happy New Year," Annie agreed. "Dating my two best friends certainly wasn't on my resolutions list, but I'm thrilled with it, nonetheless."

"It's like a super late, crazy wonderful, unofficial Christmas gift," Abed observed, and even Troy melted a little at that sweet sentiment.

**

Surprisingly, transitioning from being friends to being...something more (Annie wasn't quite sure what exact term to use, but "significant others" never sounded good enough to her) proved less challenging than expected for them, even when they went back to school. The three of them were careful to avoid giving each other any overly-flirty touches around the study group, and even when they were home, there wasn't a massive difference in how they showed affection compared to before they'd all started dating.

Well. Most of the time. There were some instances when their behavior toward one another veered pretty far out of the "close platonic friendship" category.

Like when Abed was making a tomato sauce to go with gnocchi for dinner and, after taking an initial taste himself, had asked Annie for her thoughts on it. Rather than reaching for the stirring spoon, as he'd expected, she'd kissed him full on the mouth and smacked her lips a few times while studying the flavor before commenting innocently, "It needs a little more Italian seasoning."

Or when Annie made an offhand remark that Courteney Cox's boobs looked really good while they were watching an episode of Cougar Town and Abed and Troy automatically replied, "Yours are better." After a brief pause, the three of them got lost in a steamy makeout session on the couch and the show rolled on, utterly forgotten.

Or that time when Troy heroically rescued his two comrades from the Blorgons' evil clutches during an Inspector Spacetime Dreamatorium session. Once the simulation ended, Annie and Abed had simultaneously lunged at their favorite constable, pinning him up against the nearest wall so Abed could make out with Troy while Annie pressed lush kisses against his jawline and trailed them down the side of his neck.

Besides those physical moments, though, they all loved the simple acts of getting to know each other even better as their relationship deepened, whether it was through asking random questions (Abed usually came up with the most intriguing ones, like, "Would you rather fight three giant evil ducks or eighteen regular-sized evil ducks?"), going out for dinner together, or trading books during lazy reading mornings in the apartment.

As the calendar flipped to February and skipped past Valentine's Day, toward March, the trio had a decision to make.

"Do we still want to tell the group about us around our two-month anniversary?" Annie asked her boys as they all headed home from a study session.

Despite some slight misgivings about what Shirley might think, they also felt a bit weird sort of hiding a part of themselves away from everyone else. As Abed had astutely pointed out, "We're generally more open with everyone about major events. And us dating certainly constitutes one of those."

They'd initially been worried about the potential fallout of a breakup (even Annie, the group's optimist and biggest romantic, had run through that worst-case scenario). After about a month of dating, though, they'd confirmed they were all deadly serious about each other.

"I think we could," Troy responded. "But I'd like to make some type of plan of what we're going to say and maybe try to anticipate questions they'll have."

"Smart thinking, Troy," Annie commented.

"How about we have a Casa Trobedison planning meeting before the weekend, and then tell them next Wednesday?" Abed suggested after consulting their shared calendar. "I think all of our schedules, including Jeff, Britta, and Shirley's, are less busy then compared to earlier in the week."

"Sounds like a plan," Troy and Annie agreed, and the three of them sealed it with special handshakes and a flurry of kisses.

**

Despite the fact that they'd arrived to the study room first, had drafted a plan for sharing their news and had a potential Q and A list at the ready, Abed, Troy, and Annie were still a bundle of nerves when March 3rd-a couple of days after their two-month anniversary date-rolled around. Annie's boys, specifically, were more strung out than she'd expected they would be.

"Guys, what's the worst that could happen?" she wheedled, then cursed herself. Abed and Troy built entire worlds with their imaginations; their answers to that question could easily go off the rails.

"Shirley harnesses the power of Christ to vaporize us?" Troy guessed, then added, "And if that happens, I'm totally haunting you two."

"In that scenario, I'd be down for ghost hijinks," Abed mentioned. "And the other bad scenario is we become Britta's pet project and she takes an outsized interest in our dating life."

Annie groaned. "Forget I asked. It'll be fine," she reassured them.

"And if it's not?" they demanded simultaneously.

She shrugged. "I'll show you my boobs later."

Troy and Abed folded; Annie's boobs were basically an OP trump card for resolving minor problems.

Once their friends all arrived, the trio waited for the standard exchange of pleasantries before they set their script in motion.

"We," Troy proclaimed theatrically, "that is, your friendly local members of Casa Trobedison, have an announcement to make before we get started studying today."

"Please don't tell me you're bringing back charades night," Jeff groaned.

"Snarky Winger comment: check," Abed noted, ticking it off on his "Troy and Abed and Annie are now dating!" bingo board. "And no charades nights are planned for the near future. But, we wanted to tell you…"

Annie got out of her seat and walked around to the corner of the table, between Troy and Abed, to inform the rest of them, "We're all dating!"

"By we," Shirley asked a tad suspiciously, "you mean all three of you."

"Yep," Annie nodded. "Abed and Troy are my boyfriends. Or I'm their girlfriend. However you want to frame it."

"And we're also each other's boyfriends," Troy added, gesturing between himself and Abed.

At this point in their spiel, the three of them had written in a section titled "Interruptions." Among these were:

- _Jeff makes fun of us for being unable to date anyone outside our own apartment._

_-Shirley tries to ward off our polyamorous relationship with the sign of the cross._

_-Britta mentions something about New York and threesomes._

Shockingly, none of the above happened. Shirley hummed, "Oh, that's nice," and Jeff commented, "If you're all happy, then good for you," before snorting, "But I can't believe you put together a skit for this."

In the midst of the trio's stunned silence, Britta added, "Congratulations! By the way, if you all don't mind my asking, was this a recent development?"

"We've been together for basically two months, plus a couple days," Annie replied.

To their shock, she gave a huge fist pump before pointing at Jeff and Shirley and yelling triumphantly, "Pay up!"

Shirley glowered at her, retrieved her purse from under the table, and freed a folded $20 from her billfold, tossing it across the table to the blonde.

"I don't have any cash right now," Jeff grumbled.

"Get your $20 to me before next Wednesday, Jeff, or I'm charging you interest," Britta informed him.

"Wait, you three made _a bet_ on whether or not we'd start dating?" Annie asked indignantly.

"No!" they chorused back.

Shirley murmured, "We also put odds on when you'd tell the rest of us you were dating. It was a parlay."

"Really?" Abed remarked as he quirked an eyebrow up. "It's a pretty standard comedy move. I'm not sure if I'm proud of the homage or disappointed that you chose such an obvious one."

Meanwhile, Troy and Annie gaped at each other, eyes flickering back and forth like ping-pong balls.

"Didn't we agree we were sharing our news today?" Troy asked his significant others, clearly bedeviled by the turn of events. "Or did we do that yesterday and today was the actual reveal and I didn't realize we just told them?"

Jeff, Britta, and Shirley groaned simultaneously and rolled their eyes.

"None of you _directly_ informed us you were dating," Jeff explained with the arrogant patience he'd once reserved for his especially thick clients. "However…"

Shirley picked up the thread. "The tension between the three of you, at Jeff's New Year's Eve party, when you were clearly debating whether or not to all kiss each other at midnight after your little dance? Yeah, we saw that. And Troy mentioned something to me that he needed to work out some feelings toward someone recently. Or, _two_ someones, I guess," she added, lifting her eyebrows significantly at Annie and Abed.

Britta added, "Plus, you've all _clearly_ been in a bit of a honeymoon phase ever since coming back from winter break. And Annie will usually lose her mind and spill all the details if a cute guy so much as holds a door open for her."

"Hey!" Annie protested half-heartedly.

Britta smirked and continued, "But this time, she hadn't said anything about meeting a guy or going on any dates, so it wasn't too hard to guess at what was happening. And she told meshe was into Troy and Abed over Thanksgiving break."

Jeff rounded out the discussion. "To top it all off, Abed discussed his feelings for you two with me onNew Year's Eve Eve. Between the three of us having all that intel, we worked this out by…" he glanced over at Shirley, then at Britta. "What, the end of January, at the latest?" They both nodded.

"So, in conclusion, the three of you are all kind of idiots," Jeff declared before giving one of his "good ending" smiles. "But you're our idiots, as well as each other's, and we're happy for you."

"But, Troy and Abed, if you guys hurt Annie...or each other…" Britta warned ominously before her voice trailed off in confusion. "Man, it's really hard to effectively level threats at three people in a relationship."

They all laughed at that, and Abed, surprisingly, served as the trio's spokesperson to respond dryly, "You know, Britta, I don't think you'll have to worry about it. While the three of us tend to subvert tropes, we're going for the long-term, stable relationship category, for sure."

"Definitely," Troy agreed, offering Annie an air-five from across the table before completing his handshake with Abed.

Annie happily tacked on, "I wouldn't want it any other way," and the three of them glowed bright, like something golden, at their shared affection, at how it was already feeling a lot like love.


End file.
